Happiness at Christmas Time
As we all know Christmas time is a period that we associate with being happy. This can include, the giving and receiving gifts, card writing, baking special dishes, and sweet treats, having guests staying, and, or visiting family and friends. With all this going on, it can take a lot of time and effort I start to look for inspiration around the end of October, beginning of November. Sometimes it can get quite daunting as I seem to run out of time for all the things that I want to do, so do I find myself getting unhappy as the Festive Season nears? I think of the wonderful classic story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the main character Scrooge has been wished a Merry Christmas by his nephew; Scrooge's reaction to this is "Bah, Humbug!" He does not seem much endeared to the season of Christmas, or for good cheer for that matter. A mathematician from the UK has even gone so far as to compile a formula of happiness factors at Christmastime, here it is:
Key "happiness factors" includes
- Number of calories consumed on Christmas Day (any more than 7,000 calories and you will be too stuffed to enjoy yourself), a typical Christmas dinner can tot up to 3,500 at one sitting!
- Amount of time off work (just one day off boosts happiness by 70%, with three weeks being the optimum amount)
- Centimeters of snow (15cm is ideal)
- Family arguments (more than five and happiness levels plummet)
- Number of hours spent trawling the shops for gifts (any more than 10 hours and shopping-induced stress sees happiness decline rapidly)
- Kilometers driven to see friends and family (0 miles is ideal, with 500 miles generating a 40% reduction in happiness levels)
- The number of gifts you receive (six gifts get you optimum happiness levels) but, most crucially, how many gifts you give (even giving just one present makes a huge difference to happiness levels, increasing Christmas enjoyment by 50%
Chris Green, Mathematician compiled this for Oxfam UK
So, does this mean I have to count the calories of my Christmas dinner so that I can stop when the 'counter' decides I am happy? When I am not at work, I will not be happy until I am doing nothing, as the piles of ironing, washing, and cooking chores build up I will be ecstatic! If I see no more snow this winter and avoid the shops, I will be even happier, so therefore I will have nothing to complain about and as a result there will be no arguments in my household. Ah, I will not be driving anywhere over the Christmas period, but my family are coming over from Scotland, so does that mean they will be unhappy when they arrive, then all I will need to make them happy is to tell them that I am so happy because I have not had to travel, and then give them their gifts and all will be well!
I will however, take no notice of the above and enjoy my family and friends over the festive period yes, I will probably cook too much, but this means I will not be tied to the kitchen for several days after Christmas. It is a time to spend with loved ones, and also to remember those we have lost. I carry on with all the traditions that are dear to me, and say 'Bah humbug' to all the media hype, after all it is the simple things of the festive season that count, and when time does run out I always find that I have enjoyed the process running up to Christmas time and that makes me happy!
I take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas, and good wishes for the coming year, may you all have a happy one!
- 22 december 2010
