What do you want for Christmas?

I want to stop feeling like Christmas is being shoved down my throat or rubbed in my face. As unpopular as such a statement might be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a grinch or a scrooge or anything like that. I just come from an extremely difficult family background and for my own safety and well-being I've had to cut them out of my life. Christmas is often the hardest time of the year for me.

Christmas can be very painful for a lot of people, either because of issues like mine or due to recent bereavement, loneliness, aging, etc. We can become quite adept at finding ways to enjoy it anyway - creating our own new traditions, finding 'family' among close friends, helping others in need - but the thing we won't often tell you is that doesn't take away the pain. It only makes it more manageable.

/r/AskReddit Thread