The holidays are here, so that means it’s the time to be jolly. As the snow is building up, so is the stress. The holidays can easily be defined as the most stressful time of the year for many reasons. According to prevention.com, several common factors contribute to holiday stress.
The number one reason for stress is crowds and long lines. The average Christmas shopper spends about 19 hours looking for the perfect presents for the whole family. Sixty-eight percent of people surveyed agreed that the lines are unreasonably long, but the stores seem to fail to address this issue. Prices are usually increased around this time, but the discounts make the item almost seem worth it. Black Friday lines are the worst though, considering ten people were killed in one Wal-mart in New York in 2008. An employee at Wal-Mart recently declared how she was not looking forward to Black Friday. She was truly dreading it, but she seemed ready to tolerate it.
Gaining weight was another leading cause for stress over the holidays. Thanksgiving contributes to this mostly, but people feel they cannot lose all that weight in less than a month for Christmas. Then, of course, those Christmas cookies can’t wait all night for Santa to come and eat them. Having a little nibble eventually turns into devouring an entire tray of cookies. A classic episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” features Marie trying to make Thanksgiving healthier by preparing a tofu turkey. This did not go over well in the episode, but some real life families have gone to this point just to avoid gaining extra weight.
Prevention.com cited a reason for holiday stress that most would not expect to see on the list; that is, “having to be nice.” A shocking 15% of people surveyed were not looking forward to having to use manners all the time. Apparently, being cordial bothered many people. An additional 12% of people were dreading holiday tipping. Shockingly, there were many factors which were about disappointment. Nineteen percent of people were worried about receiving gifts they did not want, or would not use. A fruit cake never hurt anyone, but it’s not the most wanted gift this year… or any year, it seems.
Finally, the seasonal music bothered 23% of people. The music seems to start playing earlier every year, so this is understandable. Many people wish the radio stations would wait until (at least) December to start playing it. Most stations begin playing it around Thanksgiving, but there are certain ones who started about the time of Halloween. November is not the month to hear about jingle bells and snowmen.
Though the holidays can be the most rewarding time of the year, it takes patience and tolerance to survive the stress. If everyone would not rush so much, or if the radio stations did not start playing Rudolph on Halloween, the holidays would lose the reputation of being more trouble than they are worth. Holiday kerfuffles will always take place. People need to be reminded that the holidays are not supposed to mean getting the newest technology or eating oodles of food, it is truly about spending time with loved ones.
