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by Mary Glindinning
I love everything about the holidays: the meals, the gifts, the lights, the music and the movies.
It is a beacon during the darkest time of year.
But it can wear you out.
This year, resolve that you will not let your spirit be sapped.
Spend your time on what's most important. Keep traditions, but do you really need to bake six kinds of cookies?
If you love to have a crowd over for a meal, consider that restaurants and catering take nothing away from the festivities but work. Because if you get up at 5 a.m. to put in a turkey large enough to serve everyone after staying up late to assemble a toy, you might not be jolly.
If your house doesn't pass the white-glove test, will they put that on your tombstone? I knew of one woman who cleaned, scrubbed and even dusted light bulbs before hosting a holiday get-together. No one noticed.
Shopping is easier if you start early, like now. Then you can be the person sipping cocoa and watching "Miracle on 34th Street" while others are racing around during the final countdown.
If you want to go shopping in person, maybe make a day of it and have lunch. We are lucky here that the small shops offer one-of-a-kind gifts, sometimes made by the same person who is wrapping it for you.
If someone on your list wants something specific, ordering online saves wear and tear and you don't have worry about the weather forecast.
Make fewer demands on yourself and others. You can't be in the business of making memories, because you never know what people will remember. One thing you don't want them to remember is "She always looked so tired and stressed out."
Limit expectations, because as Anne Lamott says, "Expectations are resentments under construction."
Whatever holidays you celebrate, I wish you happy ones.