What really is the true meaning of Christmas? In all honesty, it hasn’t shown to matter much this holiday season.

I know just like every other holiday Christmas has become commercialized and turned into spending money over celebrating and blah, blah, blah. But even looking beyond this commercialized stamp we stuck to the Christmas name, it still comes with many additional stresses.

Some may argue that the true meaning of Christmas is time spent with your family. Which is great and all for the ones who have that privilege, but what about the people that don’t have much family, if any at all? It could turn into a holiday of disappointment; thinking about the people you could have spent Christmas with had they still been in your life. This is my first Christmas without my best friend in over 11 years, and she was my dog. I can’t imagine the people who are spending their first Christmas without their parent or sibling. Or there’s the people that have such a large family that they just cannot find the time or money in this short month for everyone.

Others may say the true meaning of Christmas is the time for giving. But Christmas expenses are the worst part, who can afford this holiday now-a-days with these price tags out there? Buying Christmas gifts used to be my favourite part of the holiday; just thinking about the look that will be on my loved ones faces when they open their gifts was so exciting to me. Now I can only think of what I would have got each of them, if I had the money to buy it.

I know this seems like I’m ragging on Christmas here but I’m getting to an actual point, bear with me. I love Christmas, through the stress, hassle and all.

When it comes down to it, there is always a flaw to be found. We don’t live in a perfect world, and that’s okay. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the true meaning of Christmas, but maybe there doesn’t have to be just one meaning. Maybe Christmas can mean whatever you want it to mean.

As much as I loved those cheesy Christmas movies all over cable they keep setting these standards and expectations of this holiday season, but screw it! How you spent this time of year was up to you, and as long as you’re happy with the people around you it doesn’t matter. Christmas is whatever you make it out to be, and guess what? It was probably stressful either way. But as long as the stress was towards some sort of accomplishment it should be worth it. And I know that many of us can’t get what we really wanted for Christmas, and I hate that, but give yourself something else then. Make it something attainable, gratifying of some sort, make it anything at all.

I was doing the typical, stressing about money to have something that all my loved ones can open. Maybe they are not going to get the ideal gift I had in mind for them, but they’re going to love me just the same. (And if they don’t, they’re total jerks and don’t deserve my time or money anyways!)

Take it from me – you know, the one who began this article with all the negatives – it is pointless. There is always going to be a downfall and we can always dwell on it and ruin the holidays or step on over it and make the holidays into something better. Maybe you didn’t get a Christmas tree this year, maybe you don’t have anyone to see this holiday season, maybe you have to work through the holidays or maybe you wish you had work to afford them, just screw it. There are so many things in this world that we cannot change no matter how hard we try and that is totally okay. But there are also so many things that we can accomplish so give yourself at least one thing this holiday season, because we all deserve it. Don’t feel tied to the usual Christmas expectations and standards, because quite frankly that seemed to make everyone go absolutely nuts this year. Just do what you want.