5 Humor Hacks to Bring Back the Joy This Holiday Season

“Tis the season to be jolly,” but if you’re like a lot of folks this year, “Bah Humbug” may be a more fitting description of how you’re feeling. Stress is a surefire way to throw a bucket of cold water on your holiday spirit. Nothing like being bombarded constantly with news about global warming, the pandemic, and political pandemonium to turn your “Ho! Ho! Ho!” into “No, no, no!” Add to that the pressures of work, family, health, and finances and you find yourself dreading the holi-daze.

BTW — stress doesn’t result just from bad things happening in your life. It’s a cumulative effect of all events — both good and bad. So maybe you are excited about your Aunt Edna and Uncle Ralph coming for Thanksgiving after not seeing them during the holidays last year. But when you celebrated virtually, they couldn’t see those piles of dishes in the sink and laundry on the floor. They couldn’t smell the cat litter box that needed to be emptied a week ago. And if you got tired of talking to them, you could feign a faulty WIFI signal and turn them off. Even though you’re happy to see them, it’s not without a cost to your nervous system.

Holiday stress isn’t just a hassle. It messes with your brain — literally. Just thinking about what could go wrong over the holidays creates something called an anticipatory effect. Your brain can’t tell the…