While everybody else is busy publishing their “Top 10” lists for Christmas and year-end, I thought I’d do something a little different… So here’s 10 things I don’t want for Christmas.
10. Excuses. I’m so sick of hearing excuses from people, rather than results. All the time you spend explaining why you didn’t do such and such or couldn’t find XYZ could’ve been spent actually doing such and such or finding XYZ. I think sometimes we all have had our share of hearing enough excuses from others.
9. Endless war and death. Apparently some of our most recent presidents here in the U.S. haven’t been very avid historians. I think it should be requirement of a politician for higher office that they must pass a minimum set of world history classes, because even our current leader seems to believe that an extended conflict in Afghanistan is “winnable.” Talk to the Russians — they’ll tell you otherwise. War and death are two things we all could use a lot less of. (Sorry to get political there for a moment…)
8. Anger and angst. We spend a lot of our lives being angry at others, holding grudges (that in some cases go on for years), or just getting upset about silly things, when we step back and put them into some perspective. I could do with a lot less of those two things, both on the giving and receiving end of them.
7. Materialism during the holidays. I, like many others, get tired of the endless commercials and attempts to prey upon our more materialistic instincts at this time of the year. I fight these urges by turning off the TV, throwing out the holiday catalogs, and donating as much as I can — in either time or cash — to my favorite charities. They need it more than ever and it helps promote my own happiness, so it’s a win-win!
6. Doctors or therapists who are lousy at communicating. You know who I mean — the ones that you try and talk to about your condition or concern, and they either nod their heads and go, “Mmm hmm, I see. So tell me how that makes you feel?” or the ones who explain themselves by circular reasoning, “Why did you change my prescription, doc?” “Well, the prescription you had was working too well (I kid you not), so we needed to take you down to something that will work better for you.”
5. Insurance company greed. I don’t want insurance companies to take advantage of loopholes in laws. See this recent entry about how insurance companies use the term, medically necessary, in order to deny treatment reimbursement for mental disorders in California.
4. More complexity. You know the old saying, “The simplest solutions are usually the best ones”? Well, this works for nearly any component of your life. Feeling harried by having committed to too many organizations or groups? Cut them down to one. Seriously. Have 40 different ways to communicate with a small group of people? Cut them down to one. Trying to update your statuses on 12 different social networks? Cut them down to one. Are you beginning to see a pattern? Trust me, your life will be simpler, you’ll be less stressed, and you won’t notice much difference in the quality of your life.
3. Family squabbles. The problem with family is that we all know each other all too well, so if there’s a button we want to push, we know how to push it. This Christmas, I’d like to leave the squabbles at home and bring only peace to the table. Well, peace and my appetite. Someone’s got to eat the pie.
2. Close-mindedness. It’s so refreshing to talk to someone who is open to new ideas, who accepts you for you are and what you bring to the table, and doesn’t bring preconceived notions into the discussion. We would all be better people if we could put aside the prejudices hammered into us throughout our life and try to keep a more open mind.
1. Hate. Okay, so this may be an obvious, easy pick, but how much better would our own little world be if we could learn not to hate others — and then just did it? We don’t have to love them, but not hating them could still make a world of difference. In my own world, there’s really no one I hate, but I know people who do hate others, and it makes their lives pretty miserable when it comes up. I see it online all the time, too, and I just have to wonder how much better a place the world would be if we took up all that time and energy we use for such hate and put it into better things.
8 comments
Great ideas! I get together with my family all at once-if part of the family doesn’t show, oh well, catch em next year- this keeps my stress down! I don’t ask for anything for Christmas- I want to be together, take pictures and make memories!
By the way- why did I have a person from an ad walking across the print as I was trying to read?? It is bad enough that I have to deal with flickering and flashing out of the corner of my eye (not good for people prone to seizures). Can it be corrected??
re “Have 40 different ways to communicate with a small group of people? … Trying to update your statuses on 12 different social networks?”
Yes!! Now that you mention it, that is what I’m doing! Thanks
11. To be Tweeted “Merry Christmas!”
12. For a Christian to be nervous about wishing me Merry Christmas out of fear s/he might offend me because I’m Jewish. This is a Christian-majority country. “Merry Christmas!” away, even if I don’t!
13. More catalogues in the mailbox.
14. For every day to be yet another example of The Tragedy of the Commons http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/29/the-tragedy-of-the-commons/
15. Psychotherapists who don’t carefully prepare for each session with their patients. In college, it used to be three hours of prep for each hour of class time How about 1/2 hour of specific prep for each 50-minute hour with a client?
16. “How are you?” when you couldn’t care less.
17. A health care bill that doesn’t reward those who take good care of themselves, help those with catastrophes that can’t be avoided, and reduces the cost of health care as a percentage of GDP.
18. Ingratitude. ‘Nuff said.
Nice additions!
What’s up with #13? Why do companies believe if they blitz your mailbox with catalogs, you’ll suddenly order something from them?? I get more catalogs the month before Christmas than I think I do the rest of the entire year… What a waste of paper, too, as they go right into the recycling bin.
19. Stuff. I know Xmas is all about the gifts and the “thought” that counts, but really most of us don’t need more ‘stuff’. Donating to charity is a more meaningful gift, never has to be exchanged, fits all sizes, doesn’t become obsolete. I tried to move from exchanging lovely wrapped ‘stuff’ to passing the hat for donations and taking turns choosing the charity. Didn’t take. Maybe next year I will choose to do this myself in lieu of the stuff-swapping.
20. Clothes that don’t fit… with sizes you haven’t worn in 15 years.
Don’t get me wrong… its not about getting gifts.. but when you have about 4 shirts total, getting clothes that won’t fit is very annoying… “oh I finally have a new shirt!!! oh never mind….”
From TPG #11 above:
“17. A health care bill that doesn’t [“does NOT”]
reward those who take good care of themselves, help those with catastrophes that can’t be avoided, and reduces the cost of health care as a percentage of GDP.”
WHY DOES NOT? I don’t understand, unless this was a mistake. Please explain.
Thank you.
21. No rows,physical fights,arguements. Just what we had this year thanks to my mum’s so called brother punched my mum… not good…
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