Easing into and out of Christmas

After devoting the past two days to indulging on as much turkey and roast potatoes as a hungry teenager could ask for, I'm exhausted. Believe me, I honestly feel like I've climbed up a mountain and am now paying the price for it - by making a vow to never repeat this cycle ever again.

Of course, I utter these words under my breath every Christmas, my whispers more ferocious than the year before, yet it has become a pattern almost as recognisable as waking up at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day - this guilt traps me in a cage at around this time after most of the leftovers have been devoured, and are not leaving a trace of the pleasure with which they filled me when I ate them days before.

Although I hardly went to the extremes that some people would go to at Christmas - such as raiding the cupboard while everybody else is watching Frozen in bed (which, if it wasn't for my laptop not picking up Wifi yesterday, I would have totally seen by now) - it seems so out of the ordinary to have access to countless pigs in blankets and sausage rolls when they are rarely around during the year.

Part of me likes change because it promises excitement - a thrill that I'm always keen to get a hit of - but I lose my taste for it if it rules my entire world which, since Christmas Day, has dominated everything that I've thought of and I've done.

Too much of a good thing - and of course unhealthy treats - can lead to hatred if not reined in: before reaching the edge of losing it completely, now I feel ready to ease my consumption on not only food, but other things as well. To be fully honest with you, I don't do relaxation. As wacky as it most definitely sounds, I sometimes struggle to know how to relax which, when you take the time to consider it, is literally what Christmas is billed to be. I'm at my best when I have something to occupy myself with - reading one of the many new books I've just received, taking some regular (indoor - now is not the time to walk on the slippery ice outside) exercise and making cupcakes after burning some calories off - yet I somewhat fall to pieces if no tasks need to be completed.

Yet again, this is a curse of establishing a routine - like a sofa, I snuggle into it and refer to it when I need comfort. If I had to sum up Christmas, it is about breaking away from tradition and letting your hair down: fun is all that you should be thinking about, not whether you've completed your homework! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Christmas and often find myself wishing for its return halfway through June, dreaming of snow (which fell overnight) and trees while I sweat buckets during a boiling heatwave, but it does have a tendency to take you by surprise when it finally arrives, doesn't it? Months of planning couldn't even prepare me for Christmas Day, which I still regard as dreamlike and perfect event, but a few days are all that I need to settle into my comfort zone before celebrating the next biggest party - New Year's Eve.

There are some things that I'm easing into yet, at the same time, I'm prepared to ease out of. Tucking into a turkey leg after polishing off a mountain-sized portion of bubble and squeak last night proved to me that enough was enough - in that respect, I've had my fun and really enjoyed it, but have no intentions of overdoing it. If I did, would I look forward to this time of year as much next Christmas, or would I still be suffering from nightmares of the horrors I endured? Greed brings no pleasure for anybody: I'd be a fool to play into its hands!

From today, my plan is to go easy on chocolate, turkey and other things that, in respective, I honestly don't need. Instead, I'll find other ways of relaxing - Christmas is only once a year, so I better make the most of it!

Ooh, perhaps some online shopping will keep me entertained for the day...