The holidays are just around the corner, which means that you might start to feel slightly overwhelmed with the amount of gifts you have to buy. With Black Friday and holiday deals in every store, to Secret Santa and grab-bags, we usually feel obligated to buy gifts for everyone, including our family, our friends, our co-workers, or even people we are not that close to. As a result, it can be easy to literally lose the meaning of the holidays underneath all of those gifts.

I am not saying that we shouldn't enjoy giving/receiving gifts. After all, who doesn't love receiving those new boots they have been eyeing all year, or watching the smile on kids faces as they open the presents that have been sitting under the Christmas tree for days? Gifts are fun to give and fun to get, and they have meaning behind them; they are a token of love, appreciation, and thoughtfulness and that's exactly what the holidays should be about. However, there is more to the holidays than just gifts.

Sometimes, we take for granted the greatest gift that was already given to us: our friends and family. Oftentimes, we get lost in the routine of our busy lives that we forget to spend time with our family and friends. Make sure to spend some extra, quality time with those you love this holiday season. Whether it's simply eating dinner together with your family or binge-watching seasons of Netflix with your friends, what matters is that you are taking time to appreciate the people in your life who are always there to support you.

The holidays are about faith. Regardless of our religion, we all believe in something. Oftentimes, the pressures of daily life can make us feel so stressed out and hopeless, that we forget to have a little faith. Use this holiday season as a reminder to restore that faith and to always believe, whatever that may mean for you.

Most of all, have fun. Enjoy holiday shopping and Secret Santa, but always remember that there is so much more value to the holidays than a monetary one. Appreciate the little things and cherish every moment. The holidays are a time of rejoicing with those we love. So laugh a lot, eat a lot of delicious home-cooked meals and holiday treats, drink a lot of hot chocolate, and if your hometown is expecting a polar vortex and lots of snow, embrace it.