A Holiday Romance… Is it the Real Deal?

It is not uncommon to suddenly feel like you’ve finally found your prince or princess… under the Christmas tree. “Thanks, Santa!” Many of us have been there… too much red at the Holiday party, stayed too long talking with the new person in sales after everyone left, blah, blah, sleigh bells ringing blah. Simply said, the holidays can easily overshadow our typical sense of common sense and we can wind up in a place (or in places) where we wish we hadn’t gone.

I recently read a very interesting and helpful blog Post, “Don't end up with holiday baggage!” by Ryan Oliver (webwombat.com.), which offers an ipso facto post-holiday-romance piece of advice: "Don't crap in your own nest."

In my 1997 self-help book, Adult Loving Relationships (amazon.com), I offer numerous cautions and suggestions to avoid those short-term-fun but long-term-painful relationships. They would indeed hold up and be beneficial during the Holidays. But should you meet your prince or princess between now and New Year’s morning, try to remember these four cautions:
1. Don’t do anything to excess (e.g., if you typically have two glasses of wine, then have two);
2. Don’t do anything stupid (the dangers of being stupid are no less dangerous during the Holiday Season – they’re equal-opportunity offenders);
3. Listen to your friends (sometimes too much Holiday Cheer under the mistletoe affects our vision); and,
4. Give it the test of time (if all is still merry and bright with your new prince or princess by the end of January, then maybe it’s actually the real deal).

Pass the eggnog please… Bill