{"id":13785,"date":"2020-12-08T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=13785"},"modified":"2020-12-07T07:12:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T12:12:41","slug":"10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13833 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" \/><\/a>It\u2019s been a difficult year and we are all ready for some Christmas cheer. However, many of us aren\u2019t feeling too joyful. We are weary of the pandemic, lock downs, stay at home orders, and social distancing. We just want to put our arms around our loved ones, greet our friends with a hug, and see smiles on the faces of those we care about.<\/p>\n<p>Christmas will certainly be different this year. The usual celebrations will not take place or need to be done in new and creative ways. The traditions we all count on may have to be put on hold. And those who have lost loved ones and jobs are feeling the grief of loss. But I am reminded of the Apostle Paul who told us to rejoice while he was in chains in prison. Despite his circumstances, he could still find joy. So how do we find joy during a holiday pandemic?<\/p>\n<p>John Piper reminds us that joy is produced by the Holy Spirit. Because of Christ in us, we can see the beauty of the world around us. Rick Warren adds that, \u201cJoy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.\u201d Neither of these definitions of joy is dependent on our circumstances. This is good news during a pandemic!<\/p>\n<p>To find joy during this season, consider these 10 things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Focus on what you can do, not what you can\u2019t.<\/strong> Keep the glass half full versus half empty. This will help create joy moments this season. How can we be creative and more intimate with our celebrations this year?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Become other focused<\/strong>. Find ways to volunteer and serve where you can. Give to charities, toy drives, and those in need. Take food to the local food banks and care for your neighbors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay connected<\/strong>. Handwrite cards this year. Send cards and notes of encouragement to those in nursing homes, first responders and health care workers. They need to be remembered as they persevere through the pandemic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make your home as cheery as possible.<\/strong> Decorate, bake and keep the family traditions alive as much as possible. This year, you may have to have your own Christmas Eve service, sing carols around the piano or with Pandora, but keep traditions alive.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make an advent wreath with candles.<\/strong> Google how to make the wreath and add the candles on the Internet. Each week of advent, light the candles and do the Scripture readings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Head out to view lights and nativity scenes in your community.<\/strong> This year, we can still drive through our neighborhoods and community areas to see the decorations. Keep the Christmas spirit alive by playing Christmas songs in your car. Take a mug of hot chocolate and make it an outing!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage those who are lonely to stay connected.<\/strong> People in recovery need to attend ZOOM AA and NA meetings. During this time, isolation can lead to relapse and suicide. So check on those who are lonely and in recovery. Remember national hotlines are available 24.7. Two of the most important ones are the National Suicide Hotline- 800. 273.8255 and the National Domestic Violence hotline-1.800. 799. SAFE (7233).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exercise gratitude<\/strong>. Count it all joy knowing the trials of your faith will bring you patience. Start and end each day with 3 reasons to be grateful. This will improve your mood and physical health.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use social media to connect with family and friends<\/strong> over different celebrations of the season. Schedule times to talk, to celebrate together and to do fun things via social media platforms this year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Remember the source of our joy<\/strong>, In John 15:11, Jesus says, \u201cThese things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Jesus is referring to his own joy as being in us \u2014 not just giving us a joy, but his joy in whatever he is joyful in is in us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a difficult year and we are all ready for some Christmas cheer. However, many of us aren\u2019t feeling too joyful. We are weary of the pandemic, lock downs, stay at home orders, and social distancing. We just want to put our arms around our loved ones, greet our friends with a hug, and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[5220,398,5217,1073],"class_list":["post-13785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-celebrate-christmas","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-pandemic","tag-joy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been a difficult year and we are all ready for some Christmas cheer. However, many of us aren\u2019t feeling too joyful. We are weary of the pandemic, lock downs, stay at home orders, and social distancing. We just want to put our arms around our loved ones, greet our friends with a hug, and&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-08T11:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-07T12:12:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday","og_description":"It\u2019s been a difficult year and we are all ready for some Christmas cheer. However, many of us aren\u2019t feeling too joyful. We are weary of the pandemic, lock downs, stay at home orders, and social distancing. We just want to put our arms around our loved ones, greet our friends with a hug, and&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2020-12-08T11:00:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-07T12:12:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html","name":"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-08T11:00:02+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-07T12:12:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2020\/11\/christmas-2877124_1920.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/12\/10-ways-to-find-joy-during-a-pandemic-holiday.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Ways to Find Joy During a Pandemic Holiday"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13785"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13836,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13785\/revisions\/13836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}