3 Tips For Surviving The Holidays As A Single Woman Over 50

Holidays can feel pretty sucky when you're doing them alone.

Know what I mean?

It's hard watching all your couple friends celebrate together.

I can remember a time when it felt like I was the only one left out of the holiday cheer.

I'd have a major pity party going on in my head about how I was so alone and no one seemed to care about that.

I came to recognize that I was telling myself a story of how the holiday was supposed to look.

Think Hallmark Channel...boy meets girl before the holidays, they get together and live happily ever after.

Romance movies like these are adorable but they can set you up to feel absolutely miserable if you use them as the barometer for what the holidays should look like.

Give yourself a break and enjoy the holidays in a new way celebrating you!.

The 3 tips I'm going to share with you got me through the holiday doldrums.

I know they can for you too.

So work at shifting your holiday mindset from men to celebrating you.

If you do, the holidays become a time you look forward to versus a time of feeling blue and lonely.

Holiday Happiness #1 Pamper Yourself

It's so important at this time of year to give the first gift to you.

Give yourself something you've always wanted.

Feeling guilty about that?

I know you wouldn't think twice about doing it for your kids or grandkids, right?

Why should you think twice about giving to you?

You're so worth it!

I used to take this time to pamper myself.

I'd go get a massage or a mani/pedi.

Or I'd buy something I wanted without feeling guilty.

This is a time to take care of you and to really celebrate how amazing you are.

It feels pretty good.

As a bonus... finding love with a good man starts with loving and treasuring you!

Holiday Happiness #2 Go Out And Have A Good Time With Your Girlfriends

When I was single, I loved hanging with my single girlfriends. (I still love hanging with them and do my best to make plans at least once a week to have lunch or dinner with a girlfriend)

Choose a special place you've always wanted to go and just have fun!

Splurge on your favorite drink and a great meal.

Remember Sex and the City and all the cosmopolitans those ladies shared talking about their lives?

You can have this too.

What I did was make a list of every single woman I knew. (You want to do this now versus when you're desperate to just get out of the house. You won't remember all your friends when you feel this way.)

Then I'd call or text them to see if they were free to go to a movie or dinner.

I'm telling you my friends were thrilled because they too were feeling kind of lonely.

We'd find something fun to do which was so much better than hanging out at home by ourselves watching Netflix movies.

So make that list then get yourself out of the house and into the holiday cheer and have some fun with a good friend.

Holiday Happiness #3 Do Something Crazy, Like Book A Cruise With Your Sister, Friends, or Family

My honey and I just came back from a Celebrity cruise last Saturday.

I can't tell you how many single men over 50 were traveling alone on that ship.

So many that the cruise ship had activities just for singles every day.

Years ago, my cousin went on a cruise together.

We planned it during the holidays and went on it 2 months later in February.

We had a blast and we got to go on a vacation...something most single women don't do when they're not with a man.

Think about treating yourself to a winter vacation.

It will give you something really special to look forward to next year.