Breathing Space Principles for Enjoying the Holidays

   * Remember, you're in charge of what kind of holiday you're going to have--not Madison Avenue, Currier and Ives, or any other manufactured notion of what your life should include.

   * Let up a little. Not everything has to be perfect, and no one is keeping score.

   * Get several good physical workouts right before the holidays so you'll have a reserve built up to eat, drink, and be merry.

   * Choose to feel good about what kind of year you've had and the potential that the new year holds.

   * Make sure to step outside periodically, if only to take walk around the block, and leave your cell phone home.

   * Sleep late.