The Holiday Season is meant  to be a joyful time of year, but it can be extremely stressful for many people.  You can potentially be a lot happier and enjoy a relaxing Holiday with some simple planning, lack of excess and the proper focus/perspective.  Stress taxes your immune system and is detrimental to your health.  For this reason, it is extremely important to adopt a more realistic and balanced approach to the Holidays. 
Try these 10 easy tips:
1.     Make a Holiday Budget — Decide on a budget for Holiday spending, write it down and stick to it!   Excessive and impulse spending and the resulting influx of bills is one of the top Holiday stress producers.  Pre-planning your Holiday budget can eliminate this added financial stress and is especially important this year with the current state of the economy.
 
2.     Shop Early & Online — Shop early and online to avoid long lines and crowded mall parking lots.  Online shopping allows you to shop at multiple stores without running all over town.  Be sure to allow plenty of time for shipping and keep a written record of each purchase.
 
3.     Wrap As You Go — Wrap gifts as you buy them instead of leaving all of the wrapping until the last minute.  It’s a great idea to buy Holiday presents throughout the year when you see them, especially is they are on sale.  Doing this will further illeviate the Holiday budget crunch.  Stock up on more economical wrapping supplies by shopping at the after Holiday sales for next year.
 
4.     Ship Early – Avoid long lines at the Post Office by stocking up on stamps and other shipping supplies before the Holiday rush and mailing packages as early as possible.
 
5.     Be Realistic – Try to be realistic about your holiday commitment schedule, your holiday card list and your holiday budget.  Think progress not perfection here.  Learn to occasionally say no.
 
  
6.     Think Positively — Remember the Reason for the Season and think about all of the good, positive things in your life at least once a day instead of focusing on the negatives.  Gratitude is very powerful and uplifting.
 
7.     Maintain A Sense of Humor –  Although we love our families, too much togetherness and a multitude of varying needs can breed short tempers.  Try to maintain a sense of humor and a positive attitude.  If you need to, take a short “time-out” to center yourself and be at your best.
 
8.     Take Time to Relax – Take a break by setting aside a little time for yourself over the holidays.  A little solitude does wonders for stress.  Read a good book, take a hot bath while listening to relaxing music, enjoy a crackling fire and some hot chocolate or meditate on the real meaning of the Holidays.
 
9.     Let Nature Nurture – Remember that the best things in life are free.   Enjoy life’s simple pleasures by getting out in nature and noticing all of the sights, sounds and scents of the Holiday Season is a great stress [...]