With the holidays coming up, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the idea of spending too much time with family that you may not love being around at the time.  As sad as it is, sometimes family causes a lot of unnecessary stress and drama to your life.  Whether it is because of situations that have occurred in the past or because of conflicting personalities, the holidays can go smoothly when you follow these tips on how to tolerate your family this holiday.

1. Don’t take it personally.  If you have a family member that criticizes you or puts down your life or your actions, try your best to not take it personally.  Honestly, if someone has so much time on their hands that they can think about how flawed you are, then they are obviously doing something wrong in their life.  Just brush it off.
2. Have a plan.  Make a plan for yourself to get to the holiday celebration at a certain time and leave at a certain time.  If you can see the end zone, it is much easier to get through it.
3. Don’t mention touchy subjects.  Whether it is politics or something else, sometimes it is wise to not bring up subjects that you know will start a disagreement.  You can’t be in control of the topics that others bring up, but you can be in charge of what you do.  Make sure that you keep things on a neutral plain.
4. Don’t go.  If your relationship with your family is that bad, choose to stay home.  Sometimes the stress is simply not worth it.  You may have some hurt feelings at the beginning, but you will save yourself a lot of stress in the end.  Nothing says you can’t go to the next gathering, but we all need a break sometimes.