Question of the Day for December 26: What Are You Glad Is Over?

December 26, 2025

The day after Christmas is honest in a way the days before it are not.

The buildup is finished. The calendar has exhaled. Whatever happened, happened. There is no more performance left in it.

That makes today a good day for this question.

Now that Christmas is past, what are you glad is over?

This is not a trick question. It is not an attempt to be cynical or ungrateful. It is an invitation to notice relief.

Relief tells the truth faster than gratitude does.

You can appreciate the good parts of something and still feel lighter once it ends. Those two things are not in conflict. They often exist side by side.

Maybe you are glad the constant planning is over. The shopping, the coordinating, the mental lists that never seemed to end. Maybe you are glad the emotional weight of certain interactions has lifted, at least for now.

Maybe you are glad you do not have to pretend you are not tired.

There is a strange social rule that says once a holiday passes, we are only supposed to speak fondly of it. We smooth over the hard parts and package the memory neatly. But doing that too quickly erases useful information.

What you are glad is over tells you where your energy drains. It shows you what costs more than it gives. That does not mean you should avoid those things forever, but it does mean they deserve to be named.

You do not have to share your answer publicly. You do not have to justify it. You can think it quietly, write it down, or notice it in passing while you are doing something ordinary.

If you want more questions like this, the Question of the Day archive is full of invitations that value honesty over polish.

This question is not about complaining. It is about listening to yourself without interrupting.

If that practice feels helpful, you can join the daily email and receive one question each day. No pressure to answer it perfectly. Just an open door you can walk through when you are ready.