De-stress recipe:

• Drink lots of Chamomile tea
• Don’t go shopping at this time of year
• Don’t force yourself to bake special things
• Don’t drive during heavy traffic hours
• Decorate only if it makes you happy
• Visit or party only with the best of friends/family
• Eat normally and sensibly
• Spread your Christmas cheer all throughout the year rather than saving it up for this one month

No, I’m not a Grinch or Scrooge, I’m just done with the commercialized, materialistic, gluttonous, overly stressed gift buying frenzy that Christmas has become. This tradition that started as a holy celebration of God‘s gift of love, has instead been seized by retail opportunists who toy with our emotions the way a skilled fisherman reels in a big catch.

It’s wonderful to give, it’s great to receive, but it’s better to be mindful of what we are doing and why. I remember once noticing how ridiculous it was to tell my child that if they were “good” they might get some toy they were asking for for Christmas. Children are born good, they need to learn to behave properly for their own welfare and for the benefit of society, not for presents.

I’m all in for celebrating holidays and Holy Days, for any religious or “good willed” tradition, but not if it leads to panic attacks, car accidents, fighting consumers, mean customers, drunken guests, and spoiled children. Is it worth it? Is that the spirit we want to promote and the legacy we want to leave our children?

I’ll do it my way, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you

I’ve always wrestled with this issue. Year after year I had to ask the grandparents to tone down their gift giving indulgence. They didn’t listen much until the last few years. Even then, the last Christmas I spent with my father, he had a heart attack because he went out Christmas shopping against doctors orders. I spent Christmas night in the emergency room that year. What can I say, he just loved to give.

Now my parents are gone and my kids are adults. I am happy to honor all good things in life, and I try to love people by the way I treat them on a daily basis. I respect myself and my limitations, I help others whenever I can. I do my best to live unselfishly, kindly, thoughtfully and peacefully. I’ve lived my life in the service of spreading peace and love in the world.

So thanks very much but I’ll spend Christmas the un-stressful way: sipping Chamomile tea, reading a good book, and not shopping. God bless you all!

PS: I don’t have a fireplace and this is not me but I can dream!