As we approach my favorite time of year, I want to give a little encouragement to those who are committed to living a ScreamFree life during the holiday season.

Here it is:

If you wish to be happy, keep it simple.

By this I don’t mean to preach to you about spending less money this year than you have in the past. Keeping it simple is more about focusing on what is truly important. To accept this as your holiday lifestyle means that we must embrace the truth that some things are simply more important than others. Not everything is that important.

Do you want to make memories that will last a lifetime? Yes. Do you want to create traditions that your kids and grandkids will always enjoy? Sure. Would you like to buy that gift that your spouse has been eyeing since the spring? Of course.

We want a great many things during the holidays, and they are not always centered on presents. With all that we want, however, how many are truly important?

What if we whittled down the list of important things to just a few? What if we simply focused on the big picture of the holidays?

I believe that simplicity and ScreamFree go hand-in-hand. The fewer plates we have spinning in the air, the better able we are to keep ourselves from freaking out. The more we focus on all the seemingly important things of the holidays, the more our attention is drawn to control each one. When we try to control a lot of things at once, it’s easy for our circuits to overload. Then, before you know it, the meltdown begins.

Let’s just declare 2014 to be the year of the “no meltdown” holiday. Who’s with me? (Start the slow clap…now).

So, here’s how we can get through this:

1. Begin to think about what is truly important for you during this holiday season. Is it your daughter’s last one before she goes off to college? Will it be the first time you and your siblings have gotten together since you were kids? Whatever it is, decide what’s important and focus on making that the centerpiece of your celebration.
2. Instead of trying to manufacture the “perfect” experience this Christmas, let’s allow some things to just happen spontaneously. Often the best moments, the ones that are remembered, happen this way.
3. Focus on what you can actually control. If it’s beyond your scope, let it go.

Hopefully, this opens you up to concentrate on less, while allowing the important things to take center stage. Remember, less is almost always more.