Simplification Reminder: It's about experiences

Ultimately, Christmas isn't about what you buy, or what you get, in material terms. A lot of people believe otherwise, but the fact of the matter is that ten, or twenty, or fifty years down the road, the memories will be what stand out, and even the gifts that remain in your possession will be intimately tied to those memories. The same is true for the people who receive gifts from you.

It's about experiences, and you have a part in the shaping of those experiences. Good experiences make for good memories; bad experiences leave a sour taste in our mouth on New Year's Day (a New Year's hangover may add to that, as well).

It's hard to have good experiences when you're stressed out to the max, isn't it? So, I ask you: is this going to be another Christmas where you follow the same pattern you always have, suffer the same anxieties, and maybe pick up a bit of good cheer on the luck of the draw?

Try simplifying, and enjoying the holidays. Make it about experiences, and not about "stuff." You have nothing to lose but a big credit card bill, a big headache, and maybe even a heartache.

On Christmas Eve, we gathered, merrily.
Father offered a prayer to whatsoever powers that be.
Then we ate the fare,
'Twas a toast of wine,
And after dinner I dreamed of
Far places and things divine,
I'd love to see,
In a storybook under the Christmas tree.

On Christmas Day, I was up before the dawn.
Seeing what that happy supernatural man
Had brought me, from the Great Beyond.
It was many years ago, and very far to see,
Brother, sister, and me, in a
Storybook under the Christmas tree
I'd love to be.

- R. Dean Brock, "Christmas Storybook"