The holidays are approaching and along with them creep up the grinches of the annual family gatherings. I don’t mean to say that these are evil or all together bad people; but let’s admit we all have those family members with a negative attitude. Just as Dr. Seuss’ character stole Christmas, it is easy for your very own family grinch to rob you of your cheery holiday spirit. There are, however, tactics to maintain your merry mood.
1. Take a Break. The first option when interacting with the family grinch is to take a break away from them. Even the happiest of people can only take so much negativity. It is important to step away for a few minutes to be sure to can keep your cool. Luckily for you, most holiday gathering have food; this provides an easy escape route. “Excuse me for a moment Uncle Joe, I’m going to grab another slice of this lovely pumpkin pie”. Be careful though, you can only use this tactic so many times before Uncle Joe realizes what you’re really up to. The last thing you would want to do is hurt your grinch’s feelings.
2. Talk positive. Bring up topics that might put your grinch into a better mood. Try to talk about something good that you are aware of happening in their lives. Topics like success, (promotions, new job etc.) new found hobbies, (biking, the guitar, movie making etc.); pretty much anything you know their are excited or happy about. Unfortunately, often times these grinches don’t have many happy things in their lives, which might explain their dreary mood. This makes talking positive a bit more tricky but not all together impossible. You might have to broaden your approach in this case and talk about positive things happening within your family. “Did you hear the good news? Little Billy was rated MVP of his soccer team”. Be careful though; with the wrong tone, bringing up inner-family success may make your grinch in an even more negative mood. Try to avoid sounding like you’re bragging.
3. Distractions. What better way to distract your grinch from their negativity than a cute pet or child? Often times, recognizing the presence of something cute will snap your grinch out of their unhappy mood. If you don’t have a pet or child, try showing them a cute picture on your phone or electronic device. There are plenty of adorable cat pictures out there to distract every family’s grinch.
let's get smiling 