Everyone is running around in stores trying to find just the perfect gift to buy while I stand in the mix of it all wondering that isn't Christmas supposed to be about more than the presents?

Presents are a nice part of Christmas and not just receiving them. Watching someone open a present from you is always a special moment. It always gives me a warm feeling watching someone open a present from me and it definitely my favorite part.

People have taken presents to far by worrying more about expensive presents instead of spending time with their families. Shopping for Christmas Presents has become more draining and expensive than it should be.

Christmas is not about Coach purses or huge flat screen TV's or an expensive game system. People shouldn't feel as if they have to drain their bank account just to make someone happy. No one should risk their life being pushed around people in a store for an outrageously priced item.

To me, Christmas means spending time with family and friends. Surround yourself with people that love you and remind you of how loved you are. Have Christmas parties with your family and share cheer throughout your community.

Christmas is about love and compassion. Always make sure that the people surrounding you always have enough and not make it a competition of who has more. Have compassion for the people that have had a rough year, faced unwanted obstacles and are having to celebrate Christmas without the family members that they lost in the past year.

Everyone has at least one person that they care about and want to make happy on Christmas Day. Christmas is about making people happy. Who ever said that we had to give expensive gifts to make people happy?

Christmas Day is the one day people have to sit around the Christmas tree with their loved ones and not stress about work or school. Everyone is not lucky to have all of their family around them and the people that are lucky, should cherish them. Cherish every family member, every smile, every laugh and every photograph.

So if you are feeling stressed this Christmas, remember that the best gift that you can give someone is time with their family.