Catching up with Karyn

48 hours out is when the freakouts start. There are two types of holiday freakouts.

The first one is exhibited by the Type A personality who started shopping way back in June, put up their decorations two minutes after Thanksgiving was officially done, and STILL haven't gotten everything they need to get to make this holiday perfect...do you know how hard it is to find purple sequined Santa hats in this world, people?

The second type of holiday freakout is exhibited by people who haven't started yet. Even though retailers have been pushing the message that Christmas is coming pretty well continually for 6 months now, these folks completely failed to get it. Christmas sneaks up on them, surprising them all at once with its imminent arrival.

Whichever type of holiday freakout you're currently experiencing, you can get over it faster with laughter. Smiles and laughs can diminish muscle tension. They’re also contagious. Practice wearing a smile to share with others and notice how...

One of our best tools for beating holiday stress is simply getting enough sleep. Don’t fill every minute trying to cram in 101 more things. Take a power nap so that you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day.

When you sleep, you have more energy and are likely to be in a better mood than if you're overtired. This makes you a lot more fun for everyone around you. Be creative in searching out opportunities to grab a few ZZZZ's: even an extra ten minutes in the morning can be a tremendous boost to your holiday spirits!

Kids realize something that we have forgotten as adults: The power of play. Don’t take the holidays so seriously that you have no time to sing, dance, play—even jump on your bed! Make time to play every day, even if it’s only for 30 minutes.

If you have kids around, grab them and head outside. If there's snow. make a snowman! If there's no snow, choose a more active game. Expending the excess energy the kids have stored up means they'll sleep better at night - great for your stress!

Play invigorates the body, challenges the mind, and lifts the spirit. If there's one gift you need to give yourself this holiday season, it's PLAYTIME!

The holidays mean gathering with our family and friends - and that means that unless you've recently purchased a teleporter, you're going to spend some time on the highway with lots of other people who have all promised that they'll be home for Christmas.

Talk about stress!  If you get stuck in traffic, take this as an opportunity to reframe. Take a deep breath and visualize the person behind you - the guy compulsively honking his horn --  driving in his underwear.  Imagine the look on his face when he unwraps a sack full of coal and rocks.  At all costs, keep your sense of humor!

Airports can be stressful as well. Bear in mind that while humor can make the hassles of travel easier to bear, you want to exercise some judgment about when and where it's appropriate to joke. TSA agents, for example, are not well known for their sense of humor. This fact is not likely to change during the busiest travel days of the year!

Many of the travel frustrations are caused by...

I'll be the first to admit it: while I have many great skills, present wrapping really isn't one of them. There's the paper, there's the present, there's the bow, there's the tape, there's the tag, there's me: that's at least one too many moving parts for this to end well.

The situation gets even worse when I rush. And it seems like at this time of year, I'm always rushing. One of the reasons I'm rushing is it seems like every night, there's a holiday party.

(I know: first-world problems!)

I love parties, and I love my friends, so when my friends have a party, I want to go. However, if I'm trying to keep stress levels manageable, sometimes I have to be realistic and say "As much as I'd love to, I just can't tonight."

Holiday parties tend to descend all at once. Don’t feel obligated. Go to those you want to attend and regret the rest. Can’t think of a good excuse? Don’t give one. If it’s a true friend, she won’t need one and if it’s not a good...

At this point in the Christmas Countdown, I'd like to stop and say "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! One week until Christmas! What are we going to do?"

There's a reason for that. And the reason is that no matter how good your stress management skills may be, there is going to be a time when you just go to work. We fight stress, and frankly, sometimes stress wins.

Have you ever had the experience of knowing you were just stressed out to the max? That you knew, with absolute certainty, that while you could easily handle everything that was going on in life right that minute, the addition of any additional bit of pressure to your life would push you right over the edge?

That is the moment your child will discover he is virulently allergic to fruitcake - having 'sampled' some he found in the box of last year's holiday decorations. You can imagine the mess. We're talking ho-ho-oh no vomit here - a sight that sends your Very Helpful Mother-in-Law into overdrive, with ginger ale...

Spending money can be exhilarating. Paying the credit cards can be devastating. Think through what you're spending on holiday gifts before you spend it. What feels great in December can feel really not so great in January...and February...and March.

The fact is that sometimes we just can't afford to buy everything we want to buy. Accepting that is actually much less stress inducing than spending ourselves into incredible debt. Spending big is not your only holiday option.

Try providing gifts of service instead the traditional wrapped present. The price is right, you won’t have to wait in line, and the giver and receiver will both enjoy it more. Examples of service gifts: an evening of babysitting - the parents you know will love a night out (or a chance for some serious napping!) Shovel somebody's snow, or play chauffeur for a day for someone who doesn't drive.

Try providing gifts of sentiment. A heart-felt note telling someone how much you appreciate them will be more...

The holiday police will not arrest you for not having all your decorations up. Remember less can be more. If you spend less time putting decorations up you’ll have more time to sit back and enjoy.

I know, I know. This goes counter to all of the conventional wisdom you've heard. We're supposed to Decorate All The Things. There are even TV shows now like The Great Christmas Light Fight, where families compete to see who can create the brightest decorations - and the biggest light bill!

But I'm here to suggest to you that maybe what we need this holiday season is not more fighting - even good natured fights! - but less. Let someone else have the victory. You can opt out, conserving your energy and focusing on those things that you find more meaningful.

Besides, think about it this way: the fewer decorations you put up, the fewer you have to take down after the holidays. Pick your very, very favorites and display them. You'll find you get all of the joy -and a lot less holiday...

Do you really need to send all those holiday cards? Be honest. Many folks on your list are too busy to read your card and won’t remember a week later if you sent one or not. Clean out your holiday database by at least 25%. Here's a tip to make it simple: if when looking at your list of names, you have no idea who the person is, chances are you don't need to send them a card.

Struggling with the fact you haven't sent a card to Aunt Rhoda? Here's a nifty fact: Aunt Rhoda will (we all hope!) still be here after the holidays. A card from you - with or without Santa but featuring a hand-written note about how you're thinking of her! - will still be welcome in January, February, or at any time of year. There's no time that people *dislike* being cherished and thought about!