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While folks like to discuss the meaning of the Holiday Season (Christmas? Hanukkah? Yule? Kwanzaa? Solstice?), it's tough to find anyone who doesn't love it at its basic, personal, family-oriented levels.

For most, December is about hot drinks, cold snow, peppermint and pine. It's about twinkly lights and caroling, not political fights and complaining. This year, as the economy sits in a bit of a rut, we don't want to think about hard times - every year at the start of winter, we try to distract ourselves from what would otherwise be a dreary, chilly, blustery season.

So, let's get distracted! Since there's a recession on top of the bad weather, we'll just have to celebrate a little harder than usual - and no, that doesn't necessarily mean adding an extra helping of liquor to the egg nog.

Research the Holidays

The history behind Christmas - and the winter holiday season in general - is rich, complicated, and diverse. Why do we have a Christmas tree? Sitting down with a book by the fireplace can lead to interesting discoveries. What does setting a pine tree on fire have to do with the Solstice? All our traditions originated somewhere, and all it takes is an appropriate history book to find out the pagan origins of many Christmas celebrations.

Christians, have you sat down to read the story of Christ's birth in your Bibles - directly? The Bible's a big book, and few people have read the whole thing. Searching it for Christmas cheer - and discovering whether the Bible's stories fit present day lore - is an inexpensive way to spend a holiday evening or two.

Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" is another great option. If you don't have time to read the book, watch the old film from the 1930s. It's a gem.

Turn off the TV

Television programming consists mainly of two things: advertising and bad news. Both make us feel awful about things we can't really control. We don't need thirty-second short films blasted into our homes, telling us we need to spend-spend-spend in order to have a happy Christmas (suggesting that if we can't spend, we'll have a miserable one). We can take care of ourselves!

Why tremble fearfully in the shadows of economic forces when you could be tumbling playfully on the living room carpet with the kids, cats, dogs, spouse and other loved ones?

This month, let's not think about the recession, and limit the monetary concerns to that which we can control: our own budgets, and any small donations we might be able to make to our favorite Holiday charities.

Be

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