KEY POINTS:
Forget the commercialism and excess of the past few days of Christmas shopping and holiday arrangements - it is time to get into the spirit of the season.
1 Do something nice for someone else
Anything altruistic will do - whether it is volunteering for a charity on the day, giving a gift to the poor or doing the dishes for your mother after dinner.
2 Speaking of which
Give the cat, dog or goldfish something special for Christmas dinner and watch them chow down happily.
3 Be generous with your best emotions
Thank gift givers and card senders profusely, cultivate virtues like patience (especially when waiting in traffic) and sign your emails with kisses. Exude all the love and goodness you can muster.
4 Consume with a conscience and feel virtuous
Whether you politely refuse those plastic bags at the dairy, recycle the tin cans your cranberry sauce came in or contemplate your water use, you'll feel better knowing that you're doing at least a little bit for the planet, the environment and indeed the whole human race.
5 Organise a christmas day outfit
Ladies, a pretty summer frock. Gentlemen, a nice shirt.
6 Or, if you're feeling lazy ...
Alternatively, lock the door, turn off the phone, hire some movies and wear your pyjamas all day. This is just about the only day all year you can get away with no one bothering you if you don't want to be bothered.
7 Indulge yourself
Start the day with a glass of champagne and a breakfast of chocolate and strawberries.
8 Go to midnight mass
Even if you're not Catholic, you're not into religion and you never go to church. Just go to soak up the atmosphere.
9 Veg out
Close the curtains, light some red candles and watch a Christmas movie you've never seen but always wanted to.
10 Play some christmas music
Alternatively, keep your radio tuned to Concert or National FM all day. The kind of Christmas music they play sounds like an old-fashioned, snowy, Northern Hemisphere Christmas.
