It’s hard to believe another year has disappeared. I think I blinked and missed 2022 but alas, the festive season is upon us and Christmas is here again.
I want to wish you all well for the festive holidays, but I also wanted to say thank you so much for all the kind comments and messages on my last Mini Me Update post. It’s much appreciated.
What’s Your Christmas Looking Like This Year?
This year, it’ll just be me and my parents, and the cat if he deems it worth his precious time to socialise with us. Admittedly I’ve been struggling recently and things haven’t been great at home either, so I’m a bit ambivalent about Christmas. I can’t say that I feel very Christmassy, but maybe that’s because I did the gift shopping early this year and mostly missed out on the traditional last-minute anger-inducing shopping in manically packed-out stores.
I hope you’re feeling some festive vibes. If, however, your vibes are lacking like mine, perhaps you can find a way of generating them, like driving around to see the pretty lights in your neighbourhood, reminiscing over the good times by going through old photo albums, or doing some Christmas arts and crafts.
To some people, Christmas is a much-loved time of year full of joy, friends, family and fun. For others, it can be a lonely, stressful and difficult time. Please take a minute to reach out to those you know and check in on how they’re doing. It may just mean the world to them. If you’re struggling yourself, please consider speaking to someone close to you, calling a charity hotline if you need someone to talk to or seek a supportive Facebook group. You won’t be alone in however you feel this year.
For those living with chronic health conditions, the holidays can be a bit complex and riddled with potential problems. Chronic illness, disability and pain don’t take a break, but hopefully they don’t have to prevent us appreciating the small joys this season. Do Christmas your way, advocate for your needs, say ‘no’ when you need to, pace and ditch any guilt over the things you can’t do this year.
A few festive posts you may want to take a look at:
- Tips for Managing A Christmas With Chronic Illness
- 12 Ideas For Personalised Christmas / New Year Cards & Ecards
- 21 Tips For Managing A Chronic Christmas
Merry Christmas 2022 & Happy New Year!
This is also a time to reflect on the past year, on our current situations and where to go from here. The New Year can be refreshing and a chance for a fresh start when it’s needed. If the last year hasn’t been too spiffy, it’s okay to take some down time. Sometimes the best thing we can do is know when to do nothing. When to rest, recharge and build ourselves back up before we can push forwards.
To all those who celebrate it in some way, I hope you have a wonderful, cosy Christmas and I hope the New Year 2023 treats you all kindly.
Caz ♥
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42 comments
Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas Caz, just keep on keeping on. Hugs always, Smell xxx
• ★ Merry ★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★ Christmas ★。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚
* Joy to all! ♫•*¨* Peace on Earth ♪♫•*¨*
Hope you and your family have a merry Christmas Caz 🎄
Look after yourself ☺️
Sarah x
Merry Christmas Caz. We’re currently experiencing a major winter storm that might threaten travel plans. That’s okay. We have lots of food and drink and a warm house. If we have to hunker down and stay home, it’s not the end of the world.
I read about the storms and saw some horrific photos in the news. Are you all doing okay there? I hope you’ve managed to stay warm and safe over Christmas 🎄 xx
A happy, peaceful and I hope, healthy Christmas to you and your loved ones, Caz. ⛄❄🎄🤗
Caz, you and your parents are in my daily prayers.
Anita and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as well.
❤️&🙏, c.a.
All the best to you this Christmas and in 2023, my friend! Thank you for continuing to update us on health, healing, and more. 💖❄️🎄🤶
💜 Right Back Atch’ya
…💛💚💙…
Merry Christmas Caz, hope you manage to get some fun time and your health is ok. Look after yourself and all the best for 2023. Fingers crossed you get your operation soon. Bar xx
thank you, and merry christmas to you and yours as well.
Sending love to you and your loved ones, Caz.
The daughter and hubby, plus the one boy child still at home, are on a cruise for Christmas. We did the Chrissy lunch and gift giving before they left, so it will be a very geared back Christmas lunch for us at home this year. I’m not too bothered by that; we’ll enjoy our together moments as we always do.
I appreciate what you wrote about not everyone enjoying the Christmas period. I was certainly one of those individuals at certain times throughout my life. It can be very disheartening for many.
That being said, though; I do hope you do enjoy the day. My waking plan, these days, is to do whatever I can to enjoy my day more and more. It does seem to be working!!! Our ‘mindset’ really does dictate our life.
Lots o’ Love
xoxoxo
Merry Christmas, Caz. I could feel your words speaking to me. It has been a rough year for us, too. I am thankful beyond words to be here. It will be the two of us tomorrow and Christmas morning. We had planned to go to Christmas brunch at Olivia’s Cafe at Disney, which we do every year. Waiting and time afterward are outside. Having gotten a taste of our coldest weather in 30 years, brunch had to go. Again, Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁
Thank you… you too
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Merry Christmas from the USA!
Same to you 🎄
Lulu: “Merry Christmas to you!”
Java Bean: “And a happy New Year!”
Charlee: “We hope the next year brings progress after all the frustrations and disappointments of 2022, especially that big letdown at the end with the surgery.”
Chaplin: “It seems like the last several years have all been conspiring against us. Somebody should open an investigation. Maybe one of the dogs.”
Java Bean: “I’ll do it!”
Charlee: “Of course you will. And, now, Virgil, go socialize over the holidays, okay?”
Chaplin: “Yes, the best gift anyone can receive any time of year is of course the attention of a cat.”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I agree with the critters, it would be nice if 2023 gives us a little change of pace from 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 … Our luck has to be about to turn, right? Right … ?
I so hope you’re right. I can’t believe we’re still dealing with Covid when at the beginning, it was said it might last a few months. Things have to be better than the last few years. It’s the law of probability or something, right? I hope you all had a lovely, cosy Christmas and that the New Year is kind to you! 🐾🎄🤞
Merry Christmas to you Caz! I sincerely wish you to be strong, healthy and happy! All the best to you! 🎄
Merry Christmas, Caz!
All the best Caz! XXX
Hope you’re having a a much better Christmas than you expected and the cat came out to share it! I was surprised by how quickly the year went too.
Always good to hear from you Caz. I wish you all the happiness you can carry…and then some more.
Wishing you a very happy holidays and a better 2023, Caz!!
Grazie di cuore❤️
happy holidays and a better 2023
ciao Monica 🙂
Thank you for a meaningful post, Caz. Thank you for the reminders to reach out to others and be kind to ourselves. Wishing you a wonderful 2023! <3
Thank you so much for this post, Caz. Sorry, I’m rather late catching up with it. Thank you for speaking up for those of us who really struggle with the holidays. I spent Christmas Day alone and felt thoroughly miserable, tearful and depressed. Having said that, I saw my son and the children yesterday and last night. Then, today, my daughter and son-in-law (both of whom are in poor health and in a lot of pain) visited with the older girls. It was lovely to see them as we hadn’t got together since last August. Now, I am alone again, all the festivities are over, and reality looms ahead of me. I’m not looking forward to the New Year as I have my very last session with my wonderful counsellor on the 4th of January, and am dreading losing her. I just need to learn to keep my head above the water – if only it were that simple.
I hope you managed to enjoy some of the festivities and that your pain didn’t inhibit you from joining in with friends and family. I hope the cat deemed to join you, too! Sending you my love 💖 and many healing and comforting hugs, too 🤗. Take good care of yourself, and I hope the New Year brings you better health and happiness. Xxx 💝
Oh Ellie, I’m so sorry for what you felt throughout Christmas Day. This is just it – those who feels like this, whether they’re alone or not, are basically forgotten about because it’s all, or it should all be, joyful and merry. That’s just not the case. I’m so glad you got to see your daughter, son-in-law and the girls. That’s a long time to no see each other and I’m sure everyone loved the catch up! I hope you can hold onto those memories in the coming days. Losing your counsellor sounds incredibly daunting and honestly pretty damn aggravating, but I’m glad you’ve had her for the time you have. The future may be an unknown, but I truly hope there are brighter things around the corner for you. You can do this, Ellie. Just keep swimming. Sending lots of love your way 💜 xxxxxx
There are so many struggling during the holiday and it’s so important to reach out to those without families.
I hope you have an amazing 2023!
Merry Christmas, Caz. I hope you had a nice day. Did your cat grace you with his presence? Cats are weird that way, aren’t they? They’re either all over you or they can’t get far enough away. At least, that’s what our old cat was like. Dogs on the other hand….
Christmas was quiet for us, but nice. We cooked most of our food on Christmas Eve, ate some for dinner, then reheated the rest for Christmas Day. So Christmas Day dinner was super easy.
I hope 2023 is kind to you Caz. You deserve that xx
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Caz!!! I hope You and Your parents had a lovely time….and that Your cat decided to join in! I’m right there with You this year. Felt very Twilight Zoney and a bit melancholy this Christmas. 2022 felt like a very strange year though. I dunno. I always love how honest You are about how You’re feeling and all the wonderful suggestions You gift! Sending You tons of Love and huge hugs!!! 🤗❤️🎄💖😊
Twilight Zoney, that’s a good way of putting the weird feeling I get, too. It’s weird isn’t it? Quite unsettling. I’m sorry yours was a bit of a melancholy Christmas after a strange year, Katy. I really, truly hope that 2023 is a brighter one for you, with lots of good times and lovely memories just waiting to be made 💜 xxxxxx
Thank you for sharing!!.. as for the year 2022, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ( Dr. Seuss) and you were a part of it!! 🙂
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and hope you and your family have a wonderful New Year filled with peace, love, happiness and life is all that you wish for it to be and until we meet again… 🙂
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
(Irish Saying)
Merry Christmas and Happy 2023 to you Caz. Thanks for supporting Fibro Friday and helping to raise awareness of chronic illnesses including fibromyalgia.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thanks for the wishes Caz. I’m so happy this year we were able to comment and support each other here. It’s a pleasure always to connect with you. I hope you had a great one. As wonderful as it was, I’m happy it’s over. 🤣 Lot’s of love in 2023. xo 💗
I hope you ended up having a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Caz! I am so thankful for your blog. You bring so much brightness, honesty, and empathy into my life when I read your work. You are an amazing person, an incredible writer, and I appreciate you so much :). I hope your 2023 is off to a good start or at least has had lovely moments woven into it’s beginning. I know mine’s had some welcome highs and some ridiculously low lows. And we’re only on day #5! But here’s to a year of brightness for all of us!
All the best to you in the new year, Caz.
Hope You had a good time. My Right hand has been giving trouble and have been resting. Still is in a way too much typing and also after 10 years in my home have been doing away with quite a bit of extra things collected. Still is stream ling and in a way de-cluttering too to have more time to read and writing articles.