Christmas is nearly upon us once again. I swear they are getting closer and closer each year. One could suggest a conspiracy organised by the big corporations of the world, secretly deleting a day each year so they can make more money from us all. Or, which seems waaaaaay less logical, it could just be that as we age, time appears to speed up.
Whatever the reason, I wish you, your family and loved ones the most amazing, happy and safe Christmas.
Christmas can be a time of joy and equally a time for misery. We may be thrown together with family members that grind our nerves raw and push our buttons with vigour. What can start in worshipping of turkey and cranberry sauce, can end in nothing short of a family riot.
As the empowered individuals we are [cough cough], it may lay on our shoulders to hold it all together as we remember that no one can steal our happiness unless we allow them to. Being aware of what is going on and reading peoples emotions can be a great way of knowing when you need to diffuse a situation before it even arises. The best way to conquer any negativity is at its weakest point, its birth.
How?
- You could casually change the subject. It may seem random at the time, but if you include those heading for disaster in the new subject, maybe asking their thoughts on it or to contribute somehow, they’ll soon forget what they were actually talking about it.
- Ask if you can get the offenders a drink or something to eat. Get specific with it so as to distract them enough that they lose their train of thought. Maybe ask one of them to help so that you can separate them.
- Crack a joke. Doesn’t matter how bad it is. Sometimes the worse the joke, the better it works. You may become the focal point of some roasting but that’s okay. Better you who can handle it than those who are going to create the next World War.
- Maybe it’s all the Charlie Chaplin movies I watched as a kid or my short-lived life as a movie stuntman, but my favourite approach is to be a klutz. Drop something, trip over something, fall down, walk into a door… Do it loud, proud and with a sense of humour. Slapstick is the goldmine of distractions and can be a blast to see peoples reactions. I occasionally do this just for fun even when it’s not needed and I definitely do it if the conversation is boring me. Just don’t hurt yourself, remember, this is for a laugh and distraction, not the ER.
These are just a couple of really simple solutions to diffusing the tensions that may arise over Christmas.
How do you survive Christmas or any family gathering for that matter?
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