Holiday Survival Guide – 9
11) Practice “Giving”
The TRUE spirit of the holiday season can only be experienced through the gift of giving. That doesn’t mean to run out and grab some last minute charity presents for the local homeless shelter(although that is an awfully nice thing to do). What I’m referring to here is to donate some TIME to helping a local charity. Many times this precious gift is more important than that of a monetary hand. 
However, if all you can offer IS a donation of gifts or money, then give it! You will be surprised at how fantastic you feel inside after doing so. Now, if you absolutely cannot do any of those things, why not help a neighbor? I’m sure Mr. Smith next door would appreciate an extra hand in getting those lights set up! After shopping, don’t just smile and wish a happy holiday to that “bell-ringer” standing outside in the cold hoping for a few pennies to help their organization. Give them your change from your purchase you just made inside. If you already do this, keep doing it! You know firsthand how quickly it brings a joyous smile to your face from the inside out. And be sure to get your children involved if you have them. Instilling the spirit of giving will carry something special within them for a lifetime.
12) Take Your Time
More often than not, people are ALWAYS in a rush. Having an internal time clock can cause you excessive amounts of stress. But, why are you rushing yourself?! It will still take you the same amount of time to get whatever you need to get done, well, done! So SLOW DOWN. Enjoy your time outside. So there’s a heap of traffic? So what! If you don’t like all the traffic, then try and structure your schedule around a time when there’s less of it. Take a weekday off from work and do some of your more important shopping in the morning. You’ll get done faster, and you’ll have more time to relax in the evening before you head back to work the next day. If it’s literally impossible for you to do that, then try shopping later. Sure, you might miss out on a couple hours of extra sleep, but you’ll have that much more accomplished and can make up for the lost sleep on the weekend. Plus, when too many people are rushing, accidents usually happen. So it’s important to slow yourself down and take more time to get things done. And that means making more time available for such tasks.
13) Get Or Do Something Just For YOU
To reduce even more stress, try picking up a little something for yourself. Or treating yourself to a relaxing manicure, facial, or massage. This can do wonders for reducing your holiday stress levels. Those aren’t the only things you can do though. Take a walk in the park, drive the long route home after a busy day of shopping or working, treat yourself to an ice cream! This should be something you can do with yourself and by yourself.