Here is the  question again …

Which of the three ideas above caught your eye first?

…And a couple more…

Did you spend today alone, and if so, why did you spend this Christmas Day alone?  Is that because you are happy to be alone, you spend most days alone and other people just get in the way for the most part?  Or is it because you can’t get out of the house easily, you have not got that many friends and the ones that you have do have family to spend the day with, the few members of your family that are left  live a long way away, or abroad, or your local club is closed for the holiday.   The bottom line is many people spend this day of the year on their own and relatively few find themselves alone by choice.

Christmas 2017 is now here and that limits what you can do about it, but that means that there are only 365 shopping days until next Christmas.  Those 365 days can be used to prepare in other ways too. 

Basic mathematics

Here comes the basic maths lesson; 

1 +1 = 2

If two lonely people make the effort to communicate on any level both of them are a little less lonely.  This works on any day of the year but it is a known fact that sitting alone on a Christmas day intensifies the memories of better and worse times in one’s past, and even if you share those thoughts during a telephone call with an equally lonely neighbour or friend, it will not seem so bad.  Listening to their woes often will help to change your perspective of your own. 

Many clubs have a Christmas dinner before the big day and attending them can heighten your feelings of negativity and depression when Christmas day actually arrives, and it is the one day in the year when there is no public transport and the taxis that are available make up their own rules about the charges for taking people from A to B.   But perhaps you have a neighbour who is as lonely as you, and that you could get to for a bit of lunch on the day.  It could even be that you know two neighbours or even three that would benefit if you got together for an hour or two.   

While we all agree that Christmas is over publicised it is really good to get just one present. The old adage ‘it is better to give than to receive’ kicks in here.   There is something very special about seeing the reaction your gift sparks when the person you bought it for opens it.   Why not try the secret Santa approach to making sure that all who are invited get at least one present (►►►).  It is always a good idea to put a maximum price on the gifts and aim less to buy a present to impress and more to make the person you are buying for smile. 

Resolutions

Let’s cover resolutions next.  Christmas is always followed by New Year, when everyone says that they will not make a resolution because they are so hard to keep, and while there are many other ways that we can all prepare for a less lonely Christmas next year we hope that, if you are alone this year, it will be different in 365 days’ time. 

LPG will resolve to post this page as our latest news three times during the autumn of 2018 just in case you forget your plans to make the change.  We hope that, if you are one of the many people who spent today alone, you can get someone to help you organise a really different Christmas for next year. 

Bah humbug.

And finally if your train of thought is still chugging along the ‘Bah Humbug’ track having read this, or if your religion is such that you don’t, or can’t, celebrate Christmas LPG wishes you a happy holiday today and for Christmas 2018.

Christmas is supposed to be the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birthday and the bible story tells that the circumstances of his birth were not ideal; it was cold but there were people around, and, in the same way that it is accepted that ‘a dog is not only for Christmas, it is for life’, we should aim to combat loneliness not only for Christmas but for life!