Traditions

I have always had traditions
It could be such simple things
like a drink before bed or a once a week family game night or a holiday or trip or eating a favorite food
But always something I can both look foward and come back to
And always something fulfilling

I think one reason we hang on to traditions is that
our lives can be so crazy.
And just having that one point of order and familiarity in our lives comforts us.
So we we hang on to those traditions.

One big example of a tradition for me is the annual trip that my family takes around Christmas
We are jewish so we don't celebrate Christmas 
Instead we go to some city, eat delicious Chinese food, and lounge around in a hotel, go for a walk around the chilly city with no one else around because it is Christmas. 
This is something we look foward to every year.  
Not just doing the above things but being able to zone out and do something familiar and be with people that I love

And that brings me to the biggest thing about traditions 
It is never exclusively about the actual thing that you are doing
And, quite frankly, it shouldn't be 
Yes doing your tradition, whatever it is, should be fun or happy or any number of positive emotions you could put here.
But, in the end, it is just about doing somthing personal to you, familiar to you. 
And doing something fulfilling.
And taking some time to appreciate
appreciate what is going on in the moment    
appreciate what you hold dear
appreciate yourself.
And, in the end, you should come out feeling better that when you started.