Surviving the Holidays #1 -- Easing Stress

Are the holidays a frantic time of real stress for you with worries about giving gifts, decorating just right and no time for anything that's really fun, instead of a holiday that's enjoyable and has real meaning? I've written and spoken on many different aspects of the whole holiday time including gift giving, having less stress and making the holiday more meaningful. I'm going to be doing a series of blog entries on the surviving the holidays.

The holiday time can seem like just one frantic time of running from store to store, decorating (got to get those pine cones gilded), cooking, serving, cleaning up and cleaning up yet again. It's a real beat the clock situation with lots of possibilities for things to go wrong or not be Martha Stewart perfect.

So to start off forget about perfection. The point of the holiday time isn't to have the best decorated house on the block or to serve the msot elaborate meal or give the most expensive gifts. It's to remember the religious (or other) aspects of the various holidays that come at this time of theyear. To get together with family and friends and have a good time, to look back on the year and think about what we can be thankful for. To help others to have a good holiday and to make the world a better place, een if it is in ery small ways.

Make things easy on yourself. One of the things I always tell people is to use paper or plastic plates for the holiday celebrations. It can save you endless time and aggravation. Yes, it's not so good for the environment to use disposables but it's something to do only once in a great while and it's something that makes life incredibly easier. Making life incredibly easier can be unbelievably important when you think your'e going to lose your mind over the holidays. And believe it or not, nobody notices. I never had anyone comment on the lack of china plates. All people seem to care about is having good food and good conversations.

You can also get great looking fancy paper plates and plastic ones that come in all kinds of colors and sizes. So you can use them in a very decorative way that can add to the table. And, again, believe me nobody will care. I had people never notice that I was using plastic and I've been to other homes where I persuaded them to do this and no one every commented. Enjoy the holidays, don't think of them as an endless burden.