Why Christmas can be a let-down

Every year you go all out to have the best yuletide - only to be disappointed. Anthony Seldon reveals why"

Why is it that Christmas often fails to live up to our expectations? We plan for it months ahead with great enthusiasm, but when it arrives it often leaves us cold. If you recognise this description, and are facing the prospect of Christmas with some dread, read on.

The reason that Christmas often disappoints can be explained, I believe, quite easily. It is because we put our own pleasure at the very heart of it. We plan in great detail what we will eat, drink and do. But the pleasure that we receive from all these things is often transitory. The show turns out to be a bit predictable, the journey home from the theatre too long. The Christmas fair proves a bit bland, while the drink fails to be as special as we had expected. We may put great thought into the presents we are going to give others, but we feel that the presents we receive lack the same thoughtfulness.