Do Singles Struggle More At Christmas?

I was driving home from a family party on the day after Thanksgiving and I heard three radio stations announce that they will be playing only Christmas music all through out the holiday season.

I saw several houses decked out with blow-up Santa lawn decorations and outside color lights. I shouldn't be surprised because many people have the tradition of putting up their Christmas trees on Thanksgiving Day. And we all know that Black Friday is the biggest holiday shopping day of the year. Ready or not, the Christmas frenzy is upon us.

Do you look forward to the upcoming season with joyful anticipation or intense dread? Do you welcome the signs of Christmas or do you think about past Christmases and just hope that you can skip the entire thing this year? I think all of us can share stories about good and bad years.

I remember one Christmas, my sister and her fiancé came to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas. They were just recently engaged so they had a ton of gifts for each other. Long after the rest of us had finished opening our gifts, we continued to watch the love birds open their gifts and give a little smooch after each present. We tease and laugh about it now, but at the time, it was torture sitting through it.

Christmas is a time for family and to be with the ones that you love. But it is also a time when singles are acutely aware of their relationship statuses. Will I be single again this Christmas? Will I spend the holidays alone? Even those who have family can still feel left out at Christmas.

I come from a huge family and whenever we take family pictures together I feel like an outsider. I feel inadequate because everyone else is married and has children. I feel like I can't relate because I don't have the same struggles as families with small children.

Does my family make me feel like that? Of course they don't, but it is hard to explain to my married sister or to my parents why I feel awkward and lonely during the holidays. I feel insecure about being single on a regular day and seeing all the happy couples during Christmastime just makes that insecurity grow.

The holidays can be particularly hard on those who haven't met their spouse yet, are divorced or have suffered the death of a loved one. Sometimes it is helpful to vent about struggles that are particular to singles. It is nice to know that there are other people who have the same feelings or similar issues during Christmastime. If you are alone this Christmas, CatholicMatch is here to help.

We would like to provide Christmas hope all through out the season. Check out our collection of articles and tips to make the best of this joyful season. Share your trials and triumphs with other members, read our success stories and meet are many members online. Thousands of Catholic singles are already online. We welcome you to the conversation.