top 10 Holiday survival tips for the single guy

Holiday survival tips for the single guy

The holiday paradox is as unoriginal as a festive rerun: A time when friends and family get together sometimes proves to be one of the loneliest spells of the year. This can be especially true for the single guy; media images suggest peace, love and joy when you’re not feeling it, and the end of the year can certainly inspire a bleak, depressing and overly critical evaluation of the past 12 months when you're thinking about it all by yourself.

There’s certainly no shortage of survival guides for this time of year, but "holiday survival" makes it sound as though not taking action will result in you not making it through, period. That’s ridiculous. So let’s not call this a survival guide; instead, let’s look at this as a time of year full of unseen opportunities.

To that end, we present our top 10 holiday survival tips for the single guy in order to help you do better than merely survive this holiday season -- here's how to thrive in it.

Number 10
Be your own Santa

It’s always a good time to be grateful for things, so be grateful you’re not cajoled into spending hundreds of dollars on ridiculous gifts for your girlfriend. Take that money and buy the big-ticket item you’ve had your eye on for a while -- a home entertainment system or a new set of golf clubs. Do it this year; you may not be single next time around.

Number 9
Get the blood pumping

We don’t mean at the gym, especially if the gym is a typical destination for you. Instead, make it interesting this time of year by getting some exercise doing different things, things you haven’t done in a while. Go to the batting cages or sweat out a couple of hours on Dance-Dance Revolution. Just be active and experience new things; there's no time like the present.

Number 8
Be a dietary radical

Reject it all. Actively rebel. Yes, this is a direct suggestion: Go on a diet. This doesn’t mean you should picket eggnog. Rather, it means rejecting much of the crap that pops up in pounds around the holiday season. If this is too drastic for you, at the very least, consider eating in moderation. This is an important holiday survival tip for the single guy; nothing will contribute to feeling lonely or depressed like gaining weight and losing self-esteem.

Number 7
Cash in

Some people see the holidays with an opportunistic eye. With so many people taking time off, they make the most of it by getting some overtime work in. This may not be the most festive decision you could make, but down the road, in a month or two when you’ve got extra cash to burn, it might look like a really good decision.

Number 6
Volunteer

If you find yourself in a "giving" mood with no one to bestow your good cheer on with gifts, call up a homeless shelter, a nursing home or one of the animal rescue shelters in your area to see if they need help over the holiday season. They can all use volunteers around this time of year. You’ll feel good, you’ll exorcise that nasty "giving" bug, and who knows -- maybe you'll meet someone new or stumble across an exciting job opportunity.

Number 5
Participate in non-traditional activities

With all the hype surrounding tree trimming and holiday cheer, do something non-traditional. For example, rather than seeing a Christmas movie in a theater, go out for the non-traditional release often tends to hit screens on Christmas Day. Last year it was Alien vs. Predator -- hardly holiday fare, and therefore perfect for your non-traditional holiday survival needs.

Number 4
Make a holiday resolution

This is similar to the kinds of resolutions you make on New Year’s Eve, only restrict this one -- have it end on New Year’s Eve. Make it an achievable goal and follow through with it by engaging in something you’ve always wanted to do or going somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. If necessary, recruit a friend or two to join you in the resolution. It will keep your mind off the lonelier side of the holiday, making the cheery season pass quickly.

Number 3
Skip town

Indulge in your freedom by taking the opportunity to go wherever you want to go. It’s difficult to appreciate the ability when you’re single, but once you’ve got the relationship shackles on, you just don’t have this kind of flexibility. So, take advantage of it now and skip town for a day or two. Visit friends in other cities or just explore the country and go somewhere you've always wanted to visit.

Number 2
Go on a TV marathon

This is what DVDs loaded with full television seasons are made for. The selection is enormous, giving you the option to relive episodes of an old favorite or develop a new obsession all together. Furthermore, the marathon actually gives a solid excuse for you to do absolutely nothing -- not such a bad way to survive the holidays. Saying you watched a full season of The X-Files is a better answer to “What did you do today?” than replying that you sat on your *ss all day and twiddled your thumbs.

Number 1
Organize your own gathering

This is the season in which we celebrate tradition, and since traditions must come from somewhere, start your own. Plan something unique and frame it as an annual tradition, whether your intention is to keep it next year or not. In doing so, and in order to give it more meaning, set yourself a date other than the 25th to look forward to. This will also curb your need for human interaction and may even lead to new friends and acquaintances.

jingle all the way

Don't think of being single for the holidays as a burden or a letdown; think of it as time to spend on yourself and really focus on your needs this holiday season. It doesn’t all have to be about love and relationships -- keep these holiday survival tips close at hand, make this holiday your very own and indulge. Whatever you choose to do over the holidays, do it big; do it like this is the last time in a while that you’ll be lucky enough to be single for the holidays.