I am weary of the health, mental and financial related stress that this time of the year comes with. Everyone seems to be on the fast-forward mode, trying to catch what they never caught through out the entire year. Materialism becomes the order of the day. Various degrees of affluence displayed to make other people inferior. I am of the opinion that there should be an end to all this hype.
You may not agree with me, but those are my thoughts. Before I continue, let’s get some things straight. I believe in Jesus Christ and I acknowledge that this period is set aside to remember and celebrate his birth. However things have gotten out of proportion which made me come to the conclusion that there is almost no correlation in the celebration and what is obtainable. I have listed and elaborated on some reasons to make my claims hold water.
The race to keep up with the Joneses
Whether you agree or not, there is this pressure that comes with this festive period. Even if you think you are not stressed, there is a wave of uneasiness that everyone seems not to escape from.
- The need to stock the house with assorted food and drinks.
- Decorate the house and make it look fantastic, even if the dwellers are in chaos.
- Buy a car to impress your village people, even when the money to maintain and fuel it is far fetched.
- Unwarranted packaging(fake life) in general.
- Someone somewhere is expecting something from another person somewhere.
In my opinion, lets take a break from this race and live within our means.
Increased Micromort
A micromort is a one-in a million chance of dying from a particular activity. There are myriads of activities that takes place during this period. Long distance travels under stress could lead to one form of car accident or another. There is high possibility of depression setting in during this period, which invariably could make someone suicidal.
Unnecessary Expenses
In a bid to get every penny from customers pockets, the prices of goods and services are outrageous at this time. Transportation from one city to another becomes exorbitant. There are countries where things are highly regulated so the changes might not be much. From where I come from, the transport companies are mainly privatized and less regulated by the authority in terms of prices. A journey that would cost about 15USD will triple in this period. It is obvious that cost of goods and commodities has a bearing on the transportation cost. There are so many other things we spend our money on during this time not necessarily because we need them, but for us to ‘belong’.
Over Hyped Philanthropy
Everyone will be like, this is the time to show love to those in need and what not. Should there be a time to turn on the radar in search of people to gift items? What stops us from giving those gifts during the year rather than waiting till the end of the year. If that is the case, they might have long died of hunger and starvation before this time of the year winds up for the wand of benevolence to point towards them.
Financial Quagmire
During this period when all that matters is just to keep spending, we forget there are bills to pay, school fees to sort out, house rent for the next year, investments to make and so much more. When the dust settles and reality sets in, we find ourselves in a tight corner. The best bet should be to set aside the money for the most important things and then spend what is remaining.
