Traditions are an important part of life. They can give us treasured memories from the past, keep us connected with those close to us in the present, and give us something to look forward to in the future.

Traditions can help provide a sense of normalcy during times of stress, chaos, grief, or during life-changing events. During sad times such as the loss of a loved one, a divorce, the loss of a job or home, dealing with serious illness, or anything else that would cause us to want to skip the holidays, traditions can help promote healing.

Keeping family traditions during these times are especially beneficial to children. In the face of their lives being turned upside down and the uncertainty of not knowing what to expect next, traditions can give them something to look forward to and a sense of well-being, that at least some things in their lives have not changed.

Even during joyful life-changing events, such as a marriage or the birth of a child, keeping traditions can help us adjust to the stress of having to learn new ways. They can help make the transition from our families of origin to creating our own families a little easier as they are something known and loved.

But this may also be a good time to evaluate which traditions are most important to you, as you may have to figure out how to spend holidays with two families who expect you to keep traditions with them both. You will also want to think about creating new traditions for your own family now.

There comes a time in all families when we should take time to evaluate traditions. Some traditions may have become outdated and need some sprucing up. Sometimes traditions just need to be scrapped, especially when we no longer enjoy them and they cause more stress in our already jam-packed time. When we are carrying on with traditions that we are only doing out of duty and obligation, or because it would make someone happy who is no longer with us, it is time to let them go.

It may be time to implement some new traditions into our lives. When there is a loss involved, such as the death of a parent, spouse or other family member, it's important to still keep some past traditions that help us to remember the good memories we've had with them. But eventually it would also be beneficial to introduce a new tradition or two, to help the family begin to move forward with their lives and make new memories.

Even though traditions are an important part of life, they should not be done just for the sake of keeping them alive because it's what we've always done and just the way we do things. Make sure the traditions you devote your time to are meaningful to you and those you share them with, because they will be your future memories.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 482-5300.