Christmas is widely acknowledged as a great time to stop, catch up with friends and family and appreciated the important people in your life. Given that many Australian farming families are battling isolation, it’s a key touch-stone moment in the year where the whole tribe can gather together to renew connections, share stories in person and strengthen bonds.
It’s easy to get caught up in the demands of work, the farm, the bills. But at this time of the year we need to stop and remember that our loved ones won’t be here forever. This is a time of year where you can set aside disagreements, rebuild bonds and improve communication.
It’s especially important to think of our older generations at Christmas. Our seniors are increasingly living alone, and the older our seniors are the more likely they are to be alone.
In fact, there has even been research on the importance of spending time with your family. Eating meals together, spending one-on-one time with your children and building relationships over a barbecue or a game of back-yard sport are critical for the healthy development and long-term well-being of kids and adults.
Despite the messages in some of the Christmas dramas out at this time of the year, time with family can actually lower your stress, improve your kids’ mental development and be good for physical and mental health.
As Harvard happiness expert, Daniel Gilbert explains: “We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.”
As the world goes increasingly crazy with its more is more rhetoric, our basic needs as humans – connection, companionship and family – are at the forefront of our needs. This is, underneath all the consumerism and the gaudy decorations, the true meaning of the Australian Christmas.
From our ABC Sheds Team to yours, we wish you the best for this holiday season and we hope you spend a memorable time with the people who are important to you.
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