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Each year we can count on the holidays approaching and once again it will be time for many of us to drag out those well-worn, all too comfortable, traditions. You know the ones, the holidays decorations you've been using for years (decades?), the ancient family recipes that only see the light of day at this time of year, the gift list and greeting card list that is out of date and more about obligation and entitlement than the spirit of the season

Tradition is a great thing. It ties us to the past, to people and places we no longer have in our lives. Making Grandma's sugar cookie recipe can bring back the warm, fuzzy holidays of our childhood. Hanging the family wreath on the door may be a way of remembering that Uncle Charlie loved to hunt and brought those pine cones back for you from his last big hunting trip out west.

Tradition is a great way to mark the passage of time and events in a lifetime. It keeps the spirit of loved ones alive and helps us create memories of our own lives to pass on to the next generation.

Tradition does not have to be just about what is old and behind us now. Use this holiday season to create traditions of your own. When you're old and gray and the next generation and the one after that look around at ways to commemorate the holidays, a tradition you started in the first decade of the twenty-first century could become a treasured part of future holiday celebrations.

Create culinary traditions of your own. You don't have to rely on Grandma's butter-laden cookie recipe (okay, one batch, but pass them out among the family). You can start a tradition of growing an indoor herb garden. Use the fruits (herbs?) of your labors to create new family favorite recipes.

Start a new tradition of charity. If you already donate money or otherwise help out those who are less fortunate at this time of year, find another way to share the bounty of your life. It can be as simple as helping an elderly neighbor carry groceries, shovel snow or hang their own holiday decorations. Share your holiday meal with someone who has little or nothing of their own.

There are many members of our society without adequate food, clothing or shelter at any time of the year. The starkness of their reality is even more obvious at the holiday season. Donate used clothing, blankets, coats and scarves to those who could really appreciate them.

Tradition doesn't have to stop with what you remember and reminisce about in your life. Pass on a tradition of the spirit of the holiday season to others whose traditions and memories may be far bleaker than the ones you have come to cherish.

Learn more about this author, Leann Zotis.
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