Christmas Eve Episode Handling The Holidays

Links & Resources: Resources for Veterans and Their Families Transcript Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we talk about issues affecting veterans after they get out of the military. Before we get started, I’d like to ask for a favor. If you haven’t done so already, please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you’ve already done that, thank you! These ratings help the show get discovered, so it can reach a wider audience. While you’re there, click the subscribe button so that you get notified of new episodes as soon as they come out. If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can visit driveonpodcast.com/subscribe to find other ways of subscribing including our email list. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And now, let’s get on with the show. Hey everyone. It’s Christmas Eve and I wanted to change things up a bit in this episode. 20 of the last 21 episodes were interview style episodes with me as the host interviewing a guest. That’s almost 5 months worth of guests, which to be perfectly honest I didn’t really know whether or not I’d be able to sustain over a long period of time. But with the episodes I’ve already recorded, I have episodes with guests scheduled out through the middle of February, which is amazing to me. What I wanted to do with this episode, since it is Christmas Eve, is to talk a little about dealing with holidays in general. Not just Christmas, but Thanksgiving, birthdays, and other significant events like anniversaries. They’re not always happy times for everyone. Honestly I actually like this time of year. I’m the guy who starts listening to Christmas music at the beginning of November. But I’ve been there where I really didn’t look forward to Christmas, or any holiday for that matter. The year after my brother died was horrible for this. All of the firsts were hard. The first Thanksgiving without him, the first Christmas, his first birthday, and so on. When he was born I was just 3 years old, so I didn’t really remember these holidays without him. If you’re still grieving the loss of a loved one or the loss of a relationship, I guess just know that it’s normal to not feel super happy and joyful. Give yourself time to grieve. Not only did you lose the person, but you’re also losing the traditions that you once shared, and the opportunity to make new memories with them. It’s OK to give yourself some space during these times. Just don’t isolate yourself and refuse to be around other people. Your family or friends are likely grieving the same loss and what I found to help is to share memories of the person you lost. Laugh at the old jokes, or remember the goofy things you did together. Chances are if you’re grieving the loss there was some good times that you can reflect back on. There is also the overwhelming stress of the holidays. I know people who go overboard with the decorations, or committing to parties, or trying to find the perfect gift for someone. Then we make things worse by going on social media and seeing how so and so has their perfect Christmas tree, or whatever. Then we look at our Charlie Brown Christmas tree and feel like we’re not good enough. Look, let me give you a little help here. Unless you’re entering some Christmas decoration contest in your neighborhood, no one but you cares what your house is decorated like. The neighbors are not talking about how that one strand of lights keeps going out on the bush over on the side of your house. Your parents aren’t wondering why the wreath isn’t perfectly centered on the door. No one cares. Imagine the enormous amount of stress that would be taken off your shoulders if you didn’t care about these things either? I’m not saying don’t decorate your house if that’s what makes you happy, but don’t do it to make someone else h...