10 things to keep you sane this Christmas

Christmas time is ahead of us but is it always merry and happy? Not all the time and not for everyone. I remember my Christmas to be a very stressful time. And I guess I am not the only person who's experience can be rocky at times, especially during the "most happy time" of the year.

I was traveling to Milan last weekend and after a stressful week at work (and the whole year) I realized that I am approaching my hols the same way as a strategic manipulator with an attitude "How best survive the trip". That's not what I want to be doing outside of my workplace. Isn't days off supposed to make me feel cheerful and jolly and all that stuff which commercials tell us to be?

Forgetting marketing and all "the right ways to be during Christmas" I knew something was just way off in my system. And I knew I had to change something in order not to power through those days as if I was on an assignment with the goal to survive. I think the off time is when we actually need to be silly and playful like children and if you do not know how to do it anymore and you have no experts (children) around than take a tip from my list:

1) do something crazy - steel a cab from a stranger (friend, work colleague, mother, father, elderly family member etc.) depending on your courage, best when it's paid for by them in advance

2) overeat yourself in your favorite restaurant and drink lots of wine (not too much so you cannot remember what you have done the next day - that could spoil your joy from the first experience)

3) go ice skating, if you are an inexperienced skater then even better. The fun of having people laugh at you is contagious and you will not resist laughing with them. If it happens that you are a pro great! The jealousy at your friends' faces when seeing you smoothly sliding along them is priceless too.

4) take a cheap flight anywhere and back, it's enough to get yourself away from your usual place of living for a couple of days. A new environment will change your mindset and your natural curiosity might kick in turning you into a tourist once again.

5) buy ridiculous and useless toys for the children of your friends. Children are funny and sometimes grateful for the gifts they get. The joy you might feel when leaving them with their new crayons decorating your friends' walls cannot be paid for.

6) text your boss "Merry Christmas" at 6am on a Saturday morning right before you catch your flight back from your impromptu weekend. If she asks why would you do so, innocently respond that you thought she would work at that time anyway ;)

7) flirt with a hottie in the (coffee, security check, baggage reclaim, bar, etc.) queue. Nothing will boost your mood like having a quick chat and exchange of smiles with a random Mr. Right who you will never see again.

8) allow yourself to laugh, laugh and laugh even more at any occasion no matter how sad or frustrating it is, whether it's a broken luggage handle on your suitcase coming out of the check in area, your lost hotel booking making you a homeless person for the night or a really sucking party you were looking forward to the whole month. Raise to the occasion! You might even get a hug from a stranger as consolation.

9) sing a Christmas carol with a chore of Santa Clauses in front of a church. Join in and sing at your best. You either get a cookie or a polite request to leave. Never mind either way, you'll be the hero of the crowd for tonight. Side effect: shaking in the Christmas carol rhythm keeps you warm and counts for exercising too.

10) if it happens that you get dragged into housekeeping errands and are delegated with some cooking or baking, well I am sorry for you but the spilled flour over your the kitchen floor can be considered a snow decoration and left there as is ...

PS: I did all of the above (besides number 6 but I have had it done to me) and they all contributed to the significant hights of my happiness levels. Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, and don't forget to let me know what are your tips for making Christmas a survivable activity ;)