It’s a truth universally acknowledged that as the festive season approaches, a time of dark nights and fairy lights, we tend to feel slightly sorrier for ourselves than usual. I’m not necessarily referring to us having actual seasonal affective disorders but let’s face it, through these cold winter months, sometimes it seems as though there’s nothing worse than being alone.
Don’t worry, I feel it too. I crawled under my wonderfully comfortable, duck down duvet last night and breathed a sigh of relief, my God was I snug. The fantastically fresh bedding I had put on that very evening was the best decision I had made in a long time. That’s right, I’d used a different fabric conditioner – talk about living life on the edge! I was wrapped up in bed and in absolute bliss.
Until I felt it – the draft from my not-so-double-glazed window. I was lying on my side as I watched the hairs prick up on my arm in accordance with the change in temperature. Thank goodness I’m naturally blonde as my arms are in fact much fuzzier than I think they ought to be. I am, of course, perfectly content with my life at the moment but at this very point of the night, I couldn’t help but feel that I would love nothing more than to have a man wrap his arms around me.
I quickly told myself that it’s just that time of year. Yep – winter is coming. The nights get darker, the snow starts falling, the Christmas season is looming and the single girl is, well, if she’s anything like me she’s already stocking up on advent calendars to work her way through as the rom-coms begin to appear on the tele. It’s incredibly safe to assume that it’s perfectly natural to feel a little more alone during the latter part of the year.
Guess what? You certainly won’t be alone if you have too felt the same way. Unfortunately, because of this, I can almost guarantee that you’ll receive a message of some form from an ex, not necessarily an ex-partner, but maybe an ex-lover or ex-love-interest, but be strong! If you see your phone light up with a term of endearment, for the love of God, throw that thing at the wall and kill it with fire.
If you are feeling a bit more vulnerable in the run up to Christmas, don’t let anyone take advantage of the frailty of your feelings. If you receive a message of this nature when you’re emotionally delicate, the damage done as a result of this will undoubtedly be much worse than it would be in normal circumstances. What I’m trying to say is don’t take the bait. Don’t forget that for the first three quarters of the year, you were a strong independent woman who don’t need no man (that is, of course, if you’re anything like me) so why change this now?
Sure, if you’re single, winter can be a bit of a difficult time but think of the positives – the Coca Cola advert will be back on the television and you’ve at least 6 weeks of eating crap and being excused “because it’s Christmas” so I suggest that rather than becoming a hermit for Hannukah or creating chaos by crying at Crimbo, take pride in the fact that you can do exactly what you want and when you want, as the commitment-free Christmas cracker you are!
