There are only a few weeks left until Christmas. And again the big commercial wheels are starting to turn faster than ever. People are getting nervous and their bank accounts as well. But why? There are a lot of good reasons to not jump on that bandwagon. I´ll show you my favourite 10 reasons to not jump :-)

*** 10 reasons for a present-free Christmas 2016 ***

1. Spend time instead of money
Your family and friends will appreciate that. Visit a friend you haven´t seen for a long long time. Making somebody smile is worth a lot more than any material gift. 

2. Swim against the stream
Why should the consumer goods industry define the perfect moment to suprise or delight our besties? Love is 365 days a year not only on Christmas Eve. It´s another good moment to prove that we are free people, not depending on "the system´s rules". Send postcards to your friends in September, invite your parents for dinner on the 25th of November, celebrate Valentine´s Day in summer. Create your own calendar for doing good.    

3. Relax 

Avoid stress and don´t go shopping when anybody else does. There is nothing worse than shopping malls in December: hectic and frustrated people running around trying to wisely spend money under pressure. You better take that money and have a nice massage - or spend the day at the sauna. 

4. Focus on what really matters
Instead of spending your valuable time in shopping malls trying to find something which perhaps may please them (too much conjunctive), enjoy winter time with the ones you love. Now. Go to Christmas markets, build a snowman or act the fool.
Presents cannot buy happiness :-)

5. Don´t ruin yourself
There is nothing worse than a present that doesn´t fit the expectations. Nowadays you better don´t buy anything if it´s not the new iPhone, Wee or Xbox. Presents have to be big, expensive and up-to-date. There are a lot of people who spend a whole monthly salary on Christmas presents - or even more. Maybe they won´t be able to pay the electricity bill, but thank God the kids got their new toy. I don´t think that this is any helpful to a good family relationship.

6. Don´t kill the atmosphere  

Have you ever been giving something you really don´t like? I guess everybody has. So what do you usually do then? Yeah, you fake being happy as hell. But the problem is that your family knows when you´re lying, they know you much better than you do by yourself. An unloved present may be the perfect start of a nice conflict on your Christmas Eve. Things will get even worse if you asked for the receipt in order to return the present your mother was looking for during the whole month of December... Oh holy... 

7. Remember where it comes from
Does anybody remember why presents are given on Christmas Eve? I don´t dare making a survey among teenagers; supposedly the results would be embarrassing. So just for the records: Christmas (Christ´s Mass) is a religious and cultural annual celebration which commemorates Jesus Christ´s birth. It is usually hold on the 24th or 25th of December. According to the Bible, the Three Wise Men (or: Magi) were the first ones in visiting the newborn and brought him gold, frankincense and myrrh. So exchanging gifts on Christmas has a religious origin (not a commercial one!). I totally agree on the keeping up old traditions, but in my opinion today´s Christmas shopping craziness has very few in common with the original idea. The three gifts given by the Kings were symbols. There are different theories about their meaning, this is one: gold = virtue, frankincense = prayer, and myrrh = suffering. The only symbol Christmas gifts do have today is this one: $$$. 

8. Protect the environment
The UK e.g. produces nearly 300m tonness of waste each year. This includes enough wrapping paper to go around the equator 9 times! Think about the huuuuge amount of rubbish which is produced due to our the present exchange on Christmas. Just thinking about packaging doesn´t even touch on the gifts and gadgets that are chucked away because got broken, were old or ugly. Think about sustainability - this form giving and taking is simply not up-to-date anymore! 

9. Help others who are really needy

Instead of spending your money on useless material stuff nobody needs or even appreciates, do something really good. Nowadays when war is everywhere, there are thousands of people out there who would be happy just having a warm meal on Christmas Eve. Take your money and donate it. There surely is an organization close to your place which would truly appreciate your support. 

10. Bitcoin needs us
Save your money and invest in steem :-)

I guess there are a lot more reasons to not jump on that commercial Christmas train. My favourite one is number 4: presents cannot buy happiness, but being around our loves still can. Anyway... for sure you´ll have a happy pre-Christmas time, steemians! <3
See you again in my blog: @surfermarly. 

Cheers & live your dream,
Marly -

Picture sources:
Title / the kiss: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/154177987222106920/
Sauna - http://mulpix.com/instagram/relax_spa_sauna_hot.html
Couple in the snow - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/74520568813176661/
Needy person - http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.bettler-im-selbstversuch-sie-sehen-mich-einfach-nicht.e70551b0-4e61-4a9d-841f-a4c73288653d.html