Every year we get caught up in the anticipation, celebration and sensory overload that is the holidays. But when the last gift is opened and the last bottle of champagne has been shotgun in a horrible mistake that shatters glass everywhere, we’re left feeling at a loss. And that’s when the post-holiday blues kick in. But you can beat them with just a few easy techniques.
Don’t Stop Celebrating
Don’t want Christmas to end? Then who says you have to take down your tree? Don’t want New Year’s Eve to end? Then who says you have to stop partying? Don’t want Chanukah to end? Then who says the oil didn’t burn for an extra 400 days? After all, you can’t miss a holiday if it never actually stops. So keep buying gifts, keep toasting drinks and keep lighting the menorah until all your friends hold an intervention around a long-dead, still-decorated evergreen to confront you about your massive credit card debt, rampant alcoholism and the fire hazard that can only come from keeping several thousands candles lit every single night.
Get Out of the House
The longer you stay in the house surrounded by memories of the holidays and relatives who simply don’t know when to go home, the more you won’t be able to move on. So get out of those sweatpants, put on some nice clothes, go outside and run. Run as far and as fast as you can. Don’t stop running until you’re so exhausted you don’t have the energy to be depressed and so far away from home that you have to start a new life clean of any post-holiday entanglements…except for all the new gifts you wisely shoved into your backpack before you ran screaming through the patio glass doors.
Treat Yourself
Most of us spend the holidays focusing on other people (although thinking non-stop about what your folks will get you for presents isn’t exactly the same thing). So reward yourself for surviving the crowds and hosting duties by buying several nice things for you and you alone. Then wrap your presents, write gift tags to yourself and open them in front of everyone, exclaiming, “Wow! This is EXACTLY what I wanted! The one thing that I hinted at for months and months and months only for my family and friends to obviously buy whatever happened to be at eye level at the Exxon Tiger Mart on the way over here! Thank you, me! And as for the rest of you, clean up the mess I just made.”
Take up a New Hobby
The reason we get depressed after the holidays is that we spend so much time focusing on them that when they’re over we don’t know what to do with ourselves. That’s why it’s important to immediately immerse yourself in a whole new obsession that’s bound to require all your concentration and that—unlike the holidays—will never, ever end. Such as collecting all the string in the world. Or categorizing, bagging and storing in descending size every single grain of sand at your local beach. Or making sure every cloud in the sky gets a first, last and middle name.
Start Counting Down to Next Holiday Season
Part of the fun of the holidays is the excitement that comes with knowing they’re approaching. So keep that excitement going by counting down how much longer until next Christmas, Chanukah and News Year’s Eve. Not in days. Not in hours. But in seconds. Out loud. Every second starting from right now say how many seconds are left until holidays 2012 while at home, in school, at work and in public . Of course, to say all that in a second will require you not only to speak very fast but also do almost nothing but count, which means you won’t have a chance to even think about getting sad as you continue to spread seasonal joy to as many people screaming at you to shut the hell up as possible.
Become a Superhero
The long winter months after the holidays can really take a toll on one’s mood and sanity. You find yourself spending more time indoors and less time with friends. That’s why it’s important to use this solitary, secluded time to work on your new superhero identity and superpowers. Stay up late into the night designing and sewing your costume. Try running a little faster across the living room each day. Work on your superhero catchphrase like “Beware, Evildoers!” or “Not the face! Oh dear God, don’t hit me in the face!” Then when spring arrives you’ll be ready to hit the streets in your reworked Forever Lazy uniform, making flying noises as you run with your arms outstretched secure in the knowledge you beat that villain the holiday blues but good.
How do you beat the post holiday blues? Let us know in the comments!
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