People have different experiences during the Holiday Season. For many it is a time of joy, peace, good will and optimistic hope for the New Year. For others it is a time of self-evaluation, to reflect on the past, or to review accomplishments and failures.

Regardless of one's approach to the Holidays, this time of year often results in feelings of tremendous stress, and sometimes loneliness, detachment, and depression.  There are many different causes and contributors of these feelings and severe cases may even mimic clinical depression. 

Follow these tips for getting out in front of the Holiday Depression Syndrome: 

Get your mind right - The first priority for this Holiday Season is to get in the right frame of mind.  Think about what the Holidays mean to you and get a firm, clear picture of the feelings you want to experience throughout the Holidays and even into the New Year.  As episodes of stress begin to occur, recall these pictures and feelings you´ve created.  

Plan your Holiday experience - Once you know what feelings you want to experience throughout the Holidays, you can then plan your activities so as to create those experiences and/or feelings.  For instance, if you wish to enter the New Year with feelings of gratitude, make plans to volunteer at a local homeless shelter, soup kitchen, or youth home.  If your "pictures" include feelings of love, you may wish to plan activities involving those people who express unconditional love toward you.  

Grow your relationships - The Holidays are a time for being together. Set a goal of nurturing one or more relationships during this period.  Pick out one or two "acquaintances" or friends, and make it a point to have a stronger relationship after the New Year than you have today.  Do what it takes to get there. 

Plan your spending - One of the greatest causes of stress during the Holiday Season is overspending.  Simply put, do not overspend this Holiday Season.  Many times the worst part about the Holidays is the dread of receiving the credit card bills in January.  Remember, the Holidays are more about relationships than they are about commercialism. Resist the illusion or temptation of buying your way into the hearts of your loved ones.  Set a budget and stick to it.  Come January, you´ll be glad you did. 

Serve someone else - Nothing makes for a great Holiday experience quite like doing something nice for someone else.  Instead of feeling pressured to buy something for every friend, co-worker, or employee, send each of them a card with a note saying "I served soup at the local soup kitchen in your honor," or any manner of other service-oriented activities.  Serving others is a great way to cultivate strong healthy emotions within ourselves.  We are at our best, when we are serving others. 

Beating Holiday stress means beating the urge to allow the Holiday Season to just "happen," without prior planning or intervention.  By following these simple tips, the approaching Holiday Season should prove to be a good one.

Dr. Jeff D. Standridge and Rev. Tim Kellerman are co-founders of The Abundant Life Project (www.AbundantLifeProject.com) and co-authors of "The Abundance Principle: Five Keys to Extraordinary Living" (www.TheAbundancePrinciple.com). They can be reached by email at Info@AbundantLifeProject.com.