Life Hackery

Ideally, Christmas is a time when people are jollier and kinder than usual. Fathers are less strict, mothers and sisters bake cookies and other goodies, and kid brothers are pleasantly jumpy. This setup creates a Christmas-inspired harmony that makes every household a beautiful place. The problem is, the trend is slowly being replaced by apathy towards Christmas, given the amount of issues that haunt people’s daily lives.

The Christmas spirit should be preserved in each of us. After all, Christmas is one of the rare occasions when everyone is extra-nice to everybody, which is not a normal thing these days. Since many people find themselves sidetracked by their personal issues, you can set an example and make a difference. Get yourself into the Christmas spirit. Here are seven of your finest options.

1. Drops of Kindness in Your Household

Home should be your ideal place for comfort and getting an inner calm after periods of stress. With everyone preoccupied with their personal stuff, there are cases where homes become even more stressful than the professional plane. You can shatter that trend by performing random acts of kindness.

For instance, you can help your mom cook or engage your dad in a leisurely conversation to help him deal with stress. Remember to always smile when doing such acts, then toss out a Christmas greeting after every act of kindness. Chances are, your family will feel the Christmas cheer in your kind gestures and get themselves in a more Christmas-y demeanor.

2. Bury the Hatchet

Having enemies does not feel good. You are constantly on your toes, in anticipation of your foe’s next error that you can take advantage of. Gratifying as it seems, it brings nothing but further tension and in some cases, violence. Get rid of all your ill feelings this Christmas, especially those regarding your enemies. You might discover that those folks you consider enemies are actually good people, and vice-versa.

Burying the hatchet or even the act of saying sorry is not easy. It takes much pride to say those words or offer an enemy a handshake. In the spirit of Christmas, you can have some peace of mind by making enemies friends or at least acquaintances. Here are some things that you can do:

• Write an apology letter.
• Get a level-headed third person to act as the middleman. Meet with your enemy, say sorry and have a nice conversation over coffee or dinner. The middleman, for his part, will facilitate most of the topics for conversation until you find it tolerable to talk to your enemy directly.
• Give your foe a sudden hug.
• Give a Christmas Card with an apology theme.
• Hand your enemy a Christmas present that he or she truly likes. You can combine this with the apology letter and the Christmas Card.

Saying sorry, even if you were not the one who started the rift, involves much courage. Overcome that hump and you might find out that your worst enemies are actually best friend material. For more information, read how to ask forgiveness.

3. Create, then Play, an Original Christmas CD

Music can influence a person’s mood or demeanor, so listening to a bunch of Christmas songs can rouse the Christmas spirit in everyone. The problem is, you are probably sick and tired of hearing Christmas song classics, as you have been exposed to them ever since you were a little kid. Break the musical trend and create your own musical Christmas playlist.

The songs don’t necessarily have to be Christmas jingles. Your aim is to thrust your friends and the members of your household into a refreshingly whimsical feeling. Settle on a musical genre that everyone will appreciate or make separate CDs for your friends and your family. Here is a sample playlist:

1. I Love You More Today than Yesterday - Goldfinger
2. I Feel Better - Barenaked Ladies
3. In the Meantime - Spacehog
4. Kind and Generous - Natalie Merchant
5. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
6. Viva la Vida - Coldplay

4. Caroling with a Twist

Caroling, being a time-honored tradition, is done every Christmas by kids and cheerful teenagers. The act is cute and heartwarming, but its effects have been reduced through the years. Now many people whisk away carolers, since they have gotten tired of the door-to-door performers’ recycled acts. If you provide something different, you may actually rouse the Christmas spirits of every household.

People are used to seeing and hearing carolers sing Christmas songs along with their tambourines and makeshift percussion instruments. Break the cycle and upgrade the old renditions by having a full acoustic setup, which consists of two acoustic guitars, a box drum and bongos. You, instead of asking for money, can woo prospective jammers to join your group in spreading Christmas cheer to everyone in your community. Before long, you’ll have at least a handful of people celebrating Christmas as if it was a Hollywood musical.

5. Early Christmas Shopping

The only difference between having fun shopping for Christmas presents and being totally stressed out is the date and time you go to the shopping mall. A few weeks before Christmas is the perfect time for Christmas shopping, if you want to avoid long lines behind the counter. You can also roam the malls freely without being obstructed by large groups and slow moving people. The time is also a factor, since people flock to the stores right before lunchtime. Go earlier and you’ll have a dandy time shopping. (Tips on how to get rid of Christmas stress)

6. Pay It Forward

If you have seen the movie “Pay It Forward,” you can use it as an inspiration to start a movement of Christmas-related kindness. Do a good deed for a random individual. In exchange of that kind act, the deed’s recipient must do the same to another random person, which eventually adds up to the entire community doing good deeds. The feeling after receiving and doing a good deed is just pure bliss. In fact, it may be better than any of your Christmas presents.

7. Get Creative

A drained budget is a common cause for anxiety to prevail over the Christmas spirit. Instead of purchasing expensive gifts for everyone, you can get creative and construct costless Christmas presents that will truly be appreciated. Confused? Here are a few examples:

• A Boxful of Memories - Look for an elegant-looking box or container in your closet. Fill it with significant symbols during the years, or months, you have known the gift’s recipient. For example, you can add in a self-made pendant, a heat guard from Starbucks (with your usual topic for conversations written), a coaster from your favorite bar, a personal poem, etc. Cover the box with a fine wrapper and hand it over to the recipient. Come Christmas eve, the recipient might get teary eyed from what you’ve given.
• Treasure Map - Turn innocent objects into clues, which eventually lead to your real present. Write the significance of each object on a piece of paper and how to get to the next clue. As for the present, you need not purchase something totally pricey. The recipient will have enough enjoyment from the entire experience, regardless of the price of your gift.
• A Simple Item and a Literary Piece - Any item can be precious, as long as you can prove its significance. Literary pieces like the poem and the short story are your ways to connect an item to its recipient. For instance, you can give a cactus as a Christmas present. Attached to the plant is a poem that tells about the thorny and smooth-sailing times of a romantic or friendly bond.

With an active imagination and a strong attachment to sentimentality, you can create a Christmas present without needing to shell out several hundred bucks. You might be surprised at what the simplest of things can do, when justified.

A Christmas Movement

Raising everyone’s Christmas spirit is a good present to yourself and to everyone who you influence. You may not get the material benefits of an actual gift, but you’ll be endeared every time you come across someone you know, or in some cases, kindhearted strangers. Who knows, the Christmas spirit that you are able to instill in the people you love might even extend for an entire lifetime?

Smile, cheers and happy holidays!