Season of stress?

Finding balance in the holiday celebrations

Do you remember all the stuff you got for Christmas last year? Do you remember what you gave? The National Retail Federation cites an annual survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics in which consumers estimated they will spend an average of $967.13 this year, up 3 percent from their 2016 estimate. That breaks down to $608 on gifts for family, friends and coworkers; $218 on other holiday purchases such as food, candy and decorations; and $141 on non-gift purchase for themselves and their families.

Retail sales for November and December will total about $680 billion this year, up from $656 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Without a doubt, Americans know how to spend for Christmas. Many got started weeks ago. Millions more jumped into this year’s shopping binge on Thanksgiving day and, of course, there is today’s Black Friday onslaught.

On the one hand, the American retail economy has come to depend on the annual spending spree in the buildup to Christmas to turn bad years into moderately successful ones, and good years into extraordinary ones. As part of our consumer-oriented economy, all the holiday-centered purchasing helps create and maintain jobs and other activity that represent a needed component of economic activity.

We certainly encourage it — to an extent. Especially, holiday spending in local stores can make a huge difference in their economic fortunes. We’re not naive enough to believe people aren’t going to buy things online, but whenever possible, why not go down to your local store where you can lay your hands on whatever you’re shopping for, get some direct feedback from employees about the products they sell and let your money become part of the local economy? Buying in your own community also helps your local governments — city, county and state — pave roads, build trails, provide police and fire protection and meet so many other needs.

On the other hand, it’s healthy for everyone to evaluate what’s special about the holiday season and whether the frenetic pace of shopping is necessarily among the “joys” of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other holiday celebrated this time of year. A thoughtful gift from the heart is to be cherished; a gift acquired in a checkit-off-the-list frenzy that creates stress and worry isn’t.

Here’s an interesting tidbit, too: In the Prosper survey, of the people asked what type of gift they wanted to receive this year, fully 61 percent picked a gift card. In other words, it’s not necessarily the thought that counts; just hand over the cash. It’s been that way for 11 years, according to the survey.

Hey, we love gift cards, but what does that statistic say about our mindset regarding the holidays? How about we just direct deposit cash into the intended gift recipient’s bank account? Has giving literally reached the point that it’s has all the markings of just a financial transaction?

Perhaps the test of a successful holiday season isn’t how many gifts or how much money is on the gift card, but in how much our hearts are warmed by the presences of family and friends. Or witnessing the smile of a stranger when we’ve committed an act of kindness. Or the gift of conversation with a friend we haven’t caught up with for a long time, or an elderly person who society often forgets about.

It’s worth remembering, too, that if dread accompanies one’s entrance into the busy holiday season, maybe it’s time to take a step back and consider what the season really ought to mean to us.

How many holiday seasons is one given on this planet? Not many. And how would you live this one if you had evidence that it might be your last? Is it about stuff or is it about people? For some, it’s also all about faith, but even that can get lost in the shuffle of the consumerism of the modern holiday celebration.

As with so much in life, it’s about finding the right balance. The four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas will be a busy time, no doubt. But it’s within each person’s power to make the holidays about whatever they want them to be. A thankful attitude combined with a giving spirit can preserve those weeks as very special times indeed.