1. Avoiding all your work:I’m a big fan of being proactive and doing your work way before it’s due, but holidays are holidays. I can promise you this wholeheartedly- by forcing yourself to do work on your break, you’re only going to stress yourself out. I understand that maybe you’ll be overwhelmed when you get back, but that’s more of a reason to reserve your relaxation time for your BREAK ONLY. So do whatever you have to do immediately beforehand. Everything that can wait a little after Turkey Day can wait- your time off is calling you. This is the only time I’d advocate for something like this, so take it seriously.
2. Texting that high school friend who you lost contact with:I’m all about maintaining friendships, but we all know that sometimes doesn’t work out so well. Especially not with people who you weren’t even THAT close to post-HS-graduation. HOWEVER, I also am all about believing in second chances. If a friend (acquaintance? maybe even former enemy?) from high school is around for the holiday too, and you haven’t spoken in a while, hit them up. Normally, I’d say don’t bother- friendship is a two-way street. But around the holidays, the spirit is giddy, my forgiveness factor is high, and my patience is slightly better. Yours should be too ;)
3. Buying so much at the grocery store that you should probably just invest stock in the parent company:
I consider myself pretty into cooking. I’m always down to try new recipes and substitutes for dishes that are ordinarily on my Thanksgiving table. At the same time, I know that buying a variety of ingredients gets costly, takes up way too much space in your cart, and may be going to waste. From experience, I understand that it may seem frivolous to purchase ten types of rice, but hey, DO WHAT YOU WANT. Here’s the great thing though- this break is reserved to be spending time with your loved ones and giving thanks for what you have. So go ahead, go buy out that grocery store with your enormous Thanksgiving purchase, bond with your family and friends as you try out the newly discovered recipes, and why don’t you donate some to charity while you’re at it? See? Works for everyone.
4. Putting your phone away:
I’m the last person to be able to accomplish this feat. However, I acknowledge on a daily basis how much more relaxed, content, and mollified I would be if I just decided to disconnect from the world of iMessage, Facebook, and e-mail. Thanksgiving is a NATIONAL holiday- so anybody within the United States of America should not be trying to contact you, either. Rather, they can (and should) just focus their energy on following steps 1-4, not making your phone buzz nonstop. I understand how difficult it is to pocket the phone, TRUST ME. I think that if everyone followed this step, the national absence of FOMO would be established. We could all agree to refrain from texts, and we would all refrain from being subjected to the terrible condition of the Fear of Missing Out. People are traveling from all areas of the country to come celebrate this day, and even if you don’t have company from out of town, maybe the person you’re Snapchatting does- so motivate them to spend time with their relatives before you send that Snap.
5. Making dessert bigger than your main course
In America, we are big fans of saying that “bigger is better”. Indeed, my friend. I’m not even that into dessert, but hey, we’re talking about exceptions here, and the pastries of Thanksgiving are far too angelic to overlook or dismiss. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, cookies…feel free to pile it all up. No one should be judging you. And I guarantee that if they are, it’s because they haven’t read my article yet to convince them to indulge around Thanksgiving, too.