EVERIES REMINDER 36, Christmas sans sparkle

In Reminder 34, I talked about the everyday challenges of Christmas. These can be painful enough, yet in some lives, Christmas has definitely lost its sparkle. [Sans means ‘without’.] Instead of being the silly season, it's become the dreaded season.
 
If this is the case for you, or for someone you know and care about, I have the perfect solution: The Magic of Projects!
 
The affected person can invoke this magic any time the rest of the world seems out of tune. Cast the spell in 3 easy steps:

1. Estimate how long the current conditions that are inducing low feelings will last. For this season, let’s say it’s all of December and half-way through January – 7 weeks. Taken from now, make it 4 weeks.
2. Look around your home or in your clutter piles ;-) for a suitable project you can get interested in to fill that time, with a specific end result in mind (Very Important).
3. Start your project!
   
   

Notice how this is one occasion where I didn’t insert a ‘plan’ step. The Magic of Projects works best when you get busy right now.
 
After you’ve had a few false starts and realised you need to buy this or that, then write a quick, dot-point plan that will keep the activity going without delay.
 
When the hoo-hah of the social period has blown over, you’ll have finished something real.
 
If you have nowhere to go on Christmas Day or at New Year’s, or you just don’t feel up to the strain of festivities, set yourself an inspiring target to meet by midnight, and work extra hard on your project.

(Here’s a secret: a lot of people who appear to be having a great time are doing so because they’re also using The Magic of Projects to get through, so don’t feel too alone in it.)

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Project types are endless: Gardening, painting, pure decluttering...
Some might even bring new relationships that make next year easier!