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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of My Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to refresh a tradition. Doing the same

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Speaker 1: thing every year can be comforting, but can also become

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Speaker 1: mindless over time. Giving a tradition a little upgrade can

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Speaker 1: keep the comfort while making the meaning more profound. This week,

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Speaker 1: many people are celebrating Christmas, or at least they are

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Speaker 1: gathering with family. The holiday season features many traditions, things

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Speaker 1: we always do because we have always done them. I

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Speaker 1: am a big fan of such continuity. Continuity can make

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Speaker 1: ordinary actions feel profound. However, almost anything can become about

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Speaker 1: going through the motions if we are not careful. If

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Speaker 1: you find yourself feeling that way about a holiday tradition,

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Speaker 1: why not consider giving it a refresh. Ask if there

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Speaker 1: is a tweak you could incorporate that would make it

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Speaker 1: more meaningful or sustainable. For instance, if you have had

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Speaker 1: holiday dinner at one person's house every single year, you

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Speaker 1: might still go there, but have everyone bring a dish

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Speaker 1: instead of relying on one reliable but perhaps tired cook.

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Speaker 1: Or you can nominate a new co host to lift

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Speaker 1: some of what has become a burden without completely changing

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Speaker 1: the location. If you go to the same Christmas Eve

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Speaker 1: service each year and your church offers multiple options, maybe

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Speaker 1: you could try out a different time, seven o'clock instead

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Speaker 1: of the midnight Mass, if you would like to go

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Speaker 1: to sleep, Or maybe the kids are now old enough

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Speaker 1: that you could go to the midnight service instead of

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Speaker 1: the afternoon pageant one. If you all gather at someone's

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Speaker 1: house and find yourself just hanging out for hours that

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Speaker 1: sometimes become tedious, maybe you could organize a family volunteering project.

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Speaker 1: Maybe instead of presents for everyone, your extended family organizes

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Speaker 1: a secret Santa exchange so everyone can buy one nicer

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Speaker 1: thing instead of lots of littler things. Or maybe you

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Speaker 1: decide to only buy for the kids and make a

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Speaker 1: group donation to a favorite nonprofit instead. Maybe a trip

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Speaker 1: to a holiday buffet to see Santa has lost the lure,

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Speaker 1: so you organize a group ice skating trip as a

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Speaker 1: way to still spend time together but do something a

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Speaker 1: little more active. Or you go through your holiday decorations

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Speaker 1: and purge a few that are in poor condition and

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Speaker 1: then replace them by choosing a few new decorations as

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Speaker 1: a family. If you always hang stockings, maybe you could

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Speaker 1: get some new, nicer ones, perhaps embroidered with everyone's names.

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Speaker 1: If you already have quite a collection of matching family pajamas,

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Speaker 1: maybe this year you could get matching scarves or matching hats.

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Speaker 1: Even simple tweaks can shake things up in a good way.

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Speaker 1: We normally put our Christmas tree in the family room,

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Speaker 1: but this year, with Max the puppy joining us for Christmas,

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Speaker 1: we thought that might be asking for trouble, so we

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Speaker 1: put the tree in the front entrance way, which is

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Speaker 1: outside the puppy gates. I quite like having the tree there,

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Speaker 1: and since it's in the more formal part of the house,

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Speaker 1: I could insist on white lights and more sophisticated ornaments.

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Speaker 1: I quite like it. Even if things will change in

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Speaker 1: our new house, I will likely have at least a

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Speaker 1: formal tree and perhaps in addition, a multicolored light kid

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Speaker 1: focused one. Refreshing a tradition anyway, Traditions are wonderful, but

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Speaker 1: they are there to add depth and meaning to life.

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Speaker 1: If something isn't really doing that as much as it

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Speaker 1: once did, it is worth seeing if there is a

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Speaker 1: way to keep the general idea while refreshing the practice.

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Speaker 1: That way a tradition can continue for many years to come,

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Speaker 1: serving new people as it always has. That is truly

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Speaker 1: the best of both worlds. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast

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Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

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Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

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Speaker 1: favorite show. Whe