Thanx my friends: You know so many people have hit the dead end roads,one must see that just because the road seems to end,stop and think,is this really the end of the road,only if one lets it. I choose to make it,even though the nights are long,the days are short,the loneliness seems to overcome,the tears fall freely,the answers to many question are never answered,i choose,and i hope NO ONE gives up,without faith & hope,what do we have? I am sure glad i don't have any vises,and many do,that make ones decisions foggy,help is on the way,around every corner is hope,i know,but most of the time i have no energy to seek out answers. But i believe the answer will come to us all,just don't give in to soon,it's coming tomorrow,just don't know what tomorrow,but i will wait,i know people care of me,so i should care of them,not to let them down,or myself!

Thank you: I've tried many times to mend differences,the saying goes,hard to swallow,but it is what it is,for now anyway,hopefully not for ever,who knows! You know we should all learn a lesson,a kind word,a thank you,a smile,a stranger out of nowhere is touched by ones misfortune,you have put warmth in my heart. Today might not be as bad as one thinks,thank you again!!

Woodsman, your words touched my heart. How sad that you can not be with family over the Christmas season. Could there be ANY possibility to just pick up the phone and call your children? Of course I don't know what has transpired that caused this loss of contact. But often times, a few kind words melt the ice in relationships.

I pray you will find a way to reconnect with your children. I would be lost without mine!

I can't even fathom losing my parents. I know it will happen someday... but the grief must be overwhelming. And to not be able to see my grandbabies would be the death of me!

Please try to find some comfort over the next few weeks. No one wants to be alone over the holidays.

God bless you, my prayers are with you....

Holiday stress,where does one start?? I have lost most contact with my children,my grandchildren,my parents both died a few months ago,and i am alone for the holidays. Some days are bad,some days are worse,but today it's just o.k.,this feeling will pass,i hope. Christmas has always been family to me,the memories are many,the smiles on the children s faces,the you didn't have to do that from my Mother & Father,the knowing this day is to celebrate the birth of CHRIST,and ate so much you can't hardly move,at least until dessert lol. I am thankful for the memories i have,the older you get,sometimes that's all you have left. It will be o.k.,i keep telling myself,HOPE is one thing no one can take from us. And even on my Mothers dieing last words,knowing her time was getting short,she was a very humble person,she would say,what a bummer,when she was told cancer was killing her. And my Father's last words were,i can't care for myself ,but one thing NO ONE could take away from him,IS,he said,is his pride! So people with all the problems we may have,& i have,we will make it,but normal to think we won't. Hang in their,as i will,but if any of us need a little help,don't be stubborn like me,seek & ye shall receive. By writing this helps me,hope you see help in my words. God bless & believe. One breath,one step, one tear,one i love myself,and everything "WILL" be O.K. Hang in their my friends!!!

billnewbie - well said. No holiday stress here.....

A Merry Christmas has little to do with the things we buy or the food we cook. It has to do with the people in our lives and the One whose name is in the holiday. Many who stress about this holiday have their attention on the wrong things. On the first Christmas it was proclaimed “behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.“ If we keep that in mind and honor that day for what it really is, our stress will melt away into insignificance.

For those of you who cannot accept the “reason for the season”, you have my sympathies. It must be rough having to say Merry Christmas and to celebrate that day when your heart isn’t in it. I can see where that could cause a lot of unhealthy stress.

It's hard to fight stress when things seem so hopeless, Bobb1951. The stress this article talks about pales to insignificance compared to the stresses you describe. I have walked in your shoes and I can tell you that things will be better, eventually. But, they may get worse for a while since no one can predict the future. In my case I was laid off back in '83 for what seemed like years though it was only 10 months. I had help from my father at the time but then he died about 5 months after I was let go and so I was on my own with a family to feed. I thought I had just about littered the entire southern half of Wisconsin with job apps that I was sure went directly into the trash the moment I left an office. Eventually an offer did come in, though. Initially, it wasn't as good a job as the one I had lost but it was a new start and in the end, the company that let me go went out of business anyway so it all worked out. So hang in there, better days are coming.