G - I want you to do a mental exercise. Not for this Christmas, but for the next one.
Instead of focusing on what you DON'T have (a large happy family to spend the holidays with), I want you to focus on what you CAN have next year. What would that look like?
- A big potluck party with single friends and married friends who don't have somewhere else to be? (Could be some weekend before Xmas, or like my friend's "Loser's Xmas", which was on the evening of the 25th, or on Xmas eve. CHOSEN family can be as good or better than blood relatives.)
- A trip (to NYC, Paris, Florida, a mountain cabin in the snow?) with your daughter to celebrate Xmas before the actual date.
- My sister has a gingerbread house making party every year at her house with friends.
I'm sure others can chime in with suggestions of their own. But my point is, by focusing on what you don't have, you've been depriving yourself of these great alternatives which, if you plan them for next year, you might find are really great ways to celebrate the holiday. Right now, you're like that person who is putting off having fun until they lose weight. You're putting off having fun on the holidays until you have a boyfriend with a happy family Xmas tradition. Stop waiting on that and plan your own fun!
