Ever heard of the "holiday blues"...? Sometimes the holidays cane be more stress than joy, and people can feel a bit down. We want to make sure you have the happiest holiday season possible! The Frisky put together some ideas for keeping those holiday blues away, and staying cheerful all through the season!

1) Make your own traditions. Don't be afraid to celebrate how you want to celebrate, whether that means replacing old traditions with new ones, or adding some new traditions to your current holiday schedule.

2) Help someone out. However you choose to it, helping other people is guaranteed to give you a boost of positive energy.

3) Free yourself from obligations that don't feel right to you. Take a step back from the things that you've always done and reassess if they are actually what you want to be doing. Make sure you're spending your precious time, energy, and money in the way you want to, and don't be afraid to change your roles. People will understand.

4) Get away. Winter weather and being stuck indoors can spark one of the worst feelings in the world: stagnancy. To combat this, introduce some new scenery in your life. Just spending a day wandering around a small town just outside your city can be enough to break your tired routine and rejuvenate you.

5) Reconnect with people. Set up a weekly happy hour with coworkers or invite a couple of friends over to watch a movie. If that feels like too much, write a letter to a far-away family member. No matter how you do it, reinforcing your connections with people will help you feel less alone.

6) Get some sun. In the winter time, even though the sun is frequently hard to spot between weather and less daylight you can still reap the benefits of some sunshine. The sun's invisible rays can penetrate through weather! Give yourself five or ten minutes before work or on your lunch break to walk around outside and get some air - you'll feel better.

7) Go to the library. Books are a great way to get you out of your own head and your own world. Take advantage of the crappy weather by curling up with a blanket, a hot cup of tea, and a stack of new reading material.

8) Give yourself a break. If your holiday schedule could be described as "Go! Go! Go!," give yourself permission to stop every once in awhile. Take a breath, eat a piece of fudge, and remember: if you want to take care of other people, you've gotta take care of yourself first.

photo credit to Flickr: bottled void