Have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas -

This year, don't worry about the perfect holiday. Just have yourself a merry little one.

The holiday season often feels like a race to the finish line of "perfect" cheer. But there’s one song that stops us in our tracks every year, reminding us that it’s okay if everything isn’t sparkling. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is the ultimate anthem for the "muddle through" moments of life. have_yourself_a_merry_little_christmas

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Yule Log Video) - Facebook This year, don't worry about the perfect holiday

Most of us know the warm, hopeful version popularized by Frank Sinatra [20], but the song started somewhere much darker. Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis , the original lyrics were so bleak they would have turned a festive movie into a tragedy [9, 28]. Imagine singing these lines around the tree: But there’s one song that stops us in

: If the "fates allow," just enjoy the "shining star upon the highest bough" and leave the stress for next year [7, 20].

Thankfully, Judy Garland —who sang it to her young co-star Margaret O'Brien—refused to sing such "lugubrious" lines, fearing she’d look like a monster [9, 28]. The writers eventually softened the blow, giving us the version that acknowledges our troubles might be "out of sight" but aren't necessarily gone [16, 29].

You don't need a 12-course Stewart-style breakfast [24] to make the season special. Sometimes the best way to celebrate is to scale back: