Moving home at Christmas.
Two potentially joyous, but inevitably stressful events happening simultaneously.
There are two sides to every Christmas chocolate coin, so you are likely to experience doubts and anxieties – have I got enough, should I have…., what if, do I have enough time to……. and on the flip side, it is a time of great happiness, an opportunity to count our blessings, and to embrace all the changes before us.
The emotional stress, and distress, of moving home, especially in the emotionally charged festive period, can have a real impact on your mental health.
Our mind is an incredibly constructive and destructive tool, it can literally make or break us.
The negative impact on your mental health can far outweigh the physical hardships when moving home, those physical hardships can easily be overcome by hiring a good removal company.
Stress, anxiety, a sense of loss, or even guilt, as well as the multitude of other emotions you can experience moving home, are not so easy to overcome.
So, this Christmas we want to help you cope with the psychological side of moving home and the Polar Express is going to help us.
You may also like to read: How to Cope With Emotional Overload When Moving Home. Moving home can be a huge mix of emotions and it is easy to become overwhelmed by them. In this guide, we look at how to manage your emotions during a home move.
As we head into the Christmas season, as many people do, I started to watch my old favourite Christmas movies.
One of my favourite Christmas films is The Polar Express, and as I watched it, it dawned on me how the characters could teach us ways to cope with the emotional rollercoaster of moving home, how our emotional state determines whether we embrace life and its ups and downs, or we stay on the station platform and let life pass us by.
There’s an amazing wonderland of life out there, so all aboard as we ride The Polar Express, in our guide to managing our mental health when moving home at Christmas.
“I suggest we all hold on…..TIGHTLY!!”
All the Magic Happens When You Get on the Train
The home moving journey is often derailed before it is even out of the station.
It is easy to justify our reasons for not wanting to move home, it is easy to just stay where we are and cruise through life.
After all, life is expensive and stressful enough without having to throw a house move, and perhaps a complete change of lifestyle into the mix.
Many people are perfectly happy to stay in the cocoon they have created for themselves, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Then there are those that have to move for a job or for family reasons.
Whilst some people want to move home for a new beginning, to experience new places or new cultures, but something continually holds them back.
The Hobo who represents fear and self-doubt
In The Polar Express, the Hobo is a cynical non-believer in the magic of Christmas, he represents the fear and self-doubt that some people experience when having to believe in themselves.
Many people lack the self-confidence to make the home move happen, to get on the train of life.
But as The Conductor says “The one thing about trains is, it doesn’t matter where they are going, what matters is deciding to get on”.
You may also like to read: What is the Fear of Moving and How to Overcome it. It is often the fear of change and the unknown that stops us from making life-changing decisions like moving home. In this guide, we look at practical ways to overcome those fears.
Hero Boy represents our reluctance to embrace life
Anyone who has seen the film knows that Hero Boy is very doubtful about the existence of Santa and has lost the magic of Christmas.
So when The Polar Express pulls up outside his bedroom window he is reluctant to jump aboard and head to the North Pole to meet Santa.
Billy represents our lack of faith in ourselves
However, as the journey to the North Pole unfolds he sees amazing sights, has a fantastic adventure, and meets some great new friends.
One of those friends he meets on the train is Billy.
Billy lives in the same town as Hero Boy but from a less affluent part. Billy is a loner, afraid of what others think of him and his family, he is afraid that he doesn’t fit in so shies away from making friends.
Billy too has lost his faith in the magic of Christmas, mainly because his parents don’t have the money to buy him Christmas gifts.
“Christmas just never works out for me. Never has”
So when the Polar Express stops outside his house he is very reluctant to get on. It is only as the train pulls away that he makes the decision to board and runs after the train.
Hero Boy pulls the emergency brake to allow Billy to get on the train.
Many of us can relate to Billy. We somehow don’t feel good enough or worthy of getting on board our own Polar Express.
We are scared of the unknown, of failure, of making the wrong choices.
But unless you get on the train you will never know, there are Hero Boys and Girls all over the world who will help you, and it may just turn out that you are somebody else’s Hero Boy or Girl.
Don’t wait for your train to depart, life is short, and despite all the doom and gloom we are constantly bombarded with, it is a magical world out there.
You just need to believe that you can make it happen, believe in your abilities, and jump aboard your own personal Polar Express.
You may also like to read: Moving to a New City Alone? Yes, You Can! From planning to move by yourself to a new city, to how to prepare for your move, to settling into your new home city, this guide is an invaluable read for those moving to a new city on their own.
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