Those stories about Scrooges and Grinches pretty much lied to you. You know, the ones that make those who don’t celebrate Christmas out to be some cranky, miserable people who want to take fun away from everyone else. The fact of the matter is, I don’t celebrate Christmas, and I’m happier for not celebrating it.

I know that it’s hard to picture, but a person doesn’t need Christmas to be happy. In fact, giving up Christmas is quite liberating.

I’ll go over a few of the reasons why I’m happier for not celebrating Christmas. Be aware that there are reasons beyond those listed.

1. You can’t put Jesus back into a day that He was never a part of.
Think about the symbols associated with Christmas for a moment. What do decorated trees, hanging mistletoe, Yule logs, and numerous other symbols associated with Christmas have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? The answer is: nothing. Have you ever wondered why millions of Christians observe the birth of Jesus with a bunch of symbols that make no sense?

It’s no secret that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25, as many theologians are becoming increasingly aware. The significance of that date for ancient solstice observances in paganism is very well known. Those solstice observances incorporated some very familiar symbols into their worship: decorated trees, mistletoe, Yule logs, and so on.

The Bible explicitly warns in many places to not include elements of different worship systems in the worship of the true God. This includes solstice observances, and numerous trappings associated with them. Yet, many Christians unwittingly do this as part of their Christmas observance every year!

While some would attempt to reason away attempting to worship in the way that they feel like, I’m happier for avoiding things that are explicitly commanded against, and in so doing, I avoid the cognitive dissonance that comes with attempting to reason away said things.

2. I can have cookies and candy any time of the year, anyway.
Some might attempt to say, “But we have cookies. Don’t you want cookies?” If I wanted cookies, I’d go out and buy them, just like anyone else.

“But what about candy? Don’t you want candy?” Am I a child, that someone can tempt me to violate my sensibilities with candy? Again, I can just get candy for myself, if I wanted to. Besides, I prefer my candy without pagan solstice mysticism. I can have candy and cookies and chocolate any time of the year, no need to wait for a solstice observance as a pretext. I’m a grown man; I can get candy any time I want to.

In fact, just the other day, I went out and got jelly beans and candy bars. And they were tasty. None of it was Christmas candy, so no violation of my conscience, there.

3. Using “family” as a pretext doesn’t work, either.
I know that there are those who would say that they celebrate Christmas because of family. But the fact is, a person has their family the entire year. Has the same person been ignoring their family the rest of the year, and only visited them because they felt obligated to because of Christmas?

Obligation has more to do with duty than love. If a person really cared for their family, they’d check up on them more often. A person doesn’t need Christmas to do that.

If I wanted to spend time with family, I do that any time of the year, and they’d know that I’m sincere and not just doing it because of some solstice observance.

4. My checking account doesn’t suffer for it.
Let’s not kid ourselves, here. Christmas is primarily a commercial observance. Marketing is what popularized it among non-Catholics. Its proponents focused on the gift-giving aspect of it after the drunken revelry aspect proved to be a liability (so much so that the observance was actually banned by Continental Congress once upon a time).

There was money in it, so it’s not like the retail industry was going to do anything to discourage it. In fact, some guys were running around, taking care of all the marketing for them. The suckers took care of the rest.

Fast forward to today, and people are spending themselves broke on things like iPhones and video games with no guarantee that the intended recipient won’t find some reason to be disappointed with them, anyway. In some cases, a person racks up credit card debt that lasts for months to satisfy their ungrateful children’s demands for expensive toys.

I don’t spend myself into debt on Christmas presents, so I have much less stress over how to pay the bills for the next few months.

5. The “day after” disappointment is something I don’t have to deal with.
I remember going to work the day after Christmas, and the two guys I worked with didn’t look so jolly. Just days earlier, they were singing Christmas tunes while they worked, and were generally in a euphoric state. But the day afterwards, they didn’t seem as thrilled.

I was curious, so I asked them what was bothering them. One of them straight up told me that it was because Christmas was over, and they were disappointed.

No surprise there. There was no possible way that the observance could have lived up to all the hype that was built around it.

As for me, I didn’t have any reason to be disappointed. I didn’t invest huge piles of money into any solstice observance, and I didn’t have to put piles of decorations away. What’s more, the hoopla was done until the next year. Not that I was going to buy into any of it on that year, either.

So, that’s a list of five reasons why I’m happier for not celebrating Christmas. I know that some of you probably won’t take it so well, but maybe some of you can think of a few reasons to add. Personally, I think it’s validating to stand up for what I believe in, and stay away from what I don’t. There are too many people that don’t relate to that, and that’s really quite sad. Following the crowd isn’t easier, it sets one’s self up for exploitation.