Many Americans will be traveling this week. Skies, trains and highways will be crowded. Keep your stress levels down by focusing on the positive aspects of your journey. Can’t think of any? Well, here’s a few from me:

• Think about the fun you’ll have when you get there.
• Make up stories about the people (strangers) you see around you.
• Be thankful you’re able to get away. Many people can’t.
• Play games. There are some ideas at the Manage Your Muse site.
• And as a last resort, remind yourself that this trip is just one weekend out of your life. If it’s truly miserable, start figuring out ways to improve it next year.

With the holiday season fast approaching, resolve to make it easier on yourself this year. Start planning now to do less and enjoy the season more. What chores or events do you like the least? Which are the most draining? Figure out a way to get those things off your holiday To Do list! You — and your family — will have a much happier time if you’re all a little less stressed.

I saw something the other day that really bothered me. I was eating lunch with my husband at a deli when a slightly older couple, obviously married, took the booth across from ours. He whipped out his newspaper and she pulled out a paperback novel. They proceeded to eat lunch without exchanging a single word. It was as if each of them was locked in their own insular world, isolated from each other and everyone around them.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with tuning out the world once in a while. We all need a break on occasion. But when tuning out is your standard operating procedure, you’re missing out on a lot.

This week, just notice where and when you tune out the world. What happens when you do?

 Happy Birthday, Jen! My life—and the world—is better just because you’re in it.

What have you done for yourself, lately? So often we are so busy doing, doing, doing for others—our jobs, our families, our communities, our church, and so on—that we never take any time to attend to our own needs.

So schedule some time for yourself this week. And honor that appointment like you’d honor an appointment with the head of your country. Because you’re worth it!