Thanksgiving Day can present special challenges. How to spend time around PEOPLE without losing that warm fuzzy feeling and ending up in the fetal position in bed tonight?

The thing I try to remember most, going into it, is, "How do I want to be remembered when this day is done?" However fleeting the joy of needling someone who deserves it may be, even more enduring are the queasy feeling I will have in my own gut and the effects of that behavior on other people. Again, it's not about whether they deserve it or not. I know, I know there is revenge to be exacted or Ms. Righteous-to-be-Reminded of just how whatever and blah, blah, blah ...

But this year, especially (ESPECIALLY) if there are children present, don't go there. Don't be the star in yet another archived Miserable Holiday. Don't choose to allow yourself to be engaged by other people's neediness and pain. Don't choose to let the comments and suggestions (ohhhh, the SUGGESTIONS!) that others offer to improve your life and health and success lure you down the wrong path.

Today, be the smiling, glowing Gandhi or Mother Teresa who lives within you.

Just don't do it. You can make a million excuses (all valid, no less!) about why it's only reasonable, only fair for you to just SAY it. So many wicked statements begin with, "I was just saying..."

So for today, for tomorrow, for Saturday and every day---but just for that one day---don't say it. You'll be happier in the long run.

Love,
Sophie