Please Stop Trying to Win Christmas

Over the last few days as I have scrolled through social media newsfeeds, I have seen many statuses about family time and thoughtful gifts, and many pictures of food, presents, festive scenes and holiday decorations. And honestly, I have enjoyed it! It makes me happy to know that my friends are having a good Christmas season.

But it seems that for a few people, the goal of posting a picture is not to share their joy with others but to validate themselves.

If I have a simple and sweet Christmas morning, but don't post about it so that at least 20 friends can "like" my picture or "favorite" my tweet, did it really happen?

It seems that there is an unspoken spirit of competition on social media in general that escalates around the holiday season. One person posts a picture of a Christmas tree, so the next posts a picture of their tree next to a blazing fireplace. The next person posts a similar picture but includes a cup of coffee; the next person notes in the caption that his coffee is from Starbucks and makes sure that the mountain of presents under the tree is obvious in the picture. And so we one-up each other all down the newsfeed.

We find ourselves moving furniture, setting up a scene that doesn't even exist in real life just to get the perfect shot. Then the coffee grows cold while we flip through every filter until we get it just right, post the picture on instagram, and share it to facebook and twitter. We wait on the edge of our seats for the "likes" to start coming in - on a picture of an artificial event that never took place.

Parents go into debt to buy their children extravagant gifts. They forego giving simple, lovingly chosen gifts and stand in line to buy an iPad Mini instead, not because they want their child to have one but because it's what the other parents are getting and they fear their children will not be happy unless they get one too.

When we do this, we sabotage our own joy. We don't consider our real experiences, the simple joys of the Christmas season, to be worth posting. We fear that our picture, our story, our family, our decorations won't measure up to others'. Suddenly, the season of joy has become a season of comparison and jealousy.

So please stop trying to "win" Christmas. I'm not saying that we ought to quit posting pictures or statuses, or that all who do so are presenting a false reality. But should you find yourself wondering if your picture is "good enough" to post, if you realize that you are struggling to craft a status that says "Merry Christmas" in a completely new way because you are afraid it won't be unique, then you may need to take a step back.

Christmas isn't about competition. Christmas isn't about the fear of missing out. Christmas isn't about feeling inadequate. Christmas isn't about jealousy.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ our Saviour. Christmas is about traditions - your traditions, and whatever they are, your traditions are good enough. Christmas is about giving, whether the gift is large or small, out of a heart of love. Christmas is about being thankful for what we have.

Stop trying to win Christmas. Forget about impressing others and be thankful for every precious moment. I wish you a merry Christmas: a happy time with those that you love, rest, celebration, tradition, beauty, and joy.