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Who will you be spending New Year's Eve with?

Many people insist that New Year's Eve should be spent with family. Those who are single or have no kids, however, say they're just as happy spending the night with only their partner or closest friends.

I'm of the belief that New Year's Eve can be spent with anyone you hold near and dear to your heart -- whether it's your best friend or a group of long-time neighbors. I've never thought of New Year's Eve as being strictly a family affair -- unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I do deem family occasions.

It's interesting how people get into the habit of compartmentalizing different occasions. This day should be spent with such and such people, and that day should be spent with so and so.

But shouldn't every day be considered Thanksgiving? Shouldn't we aim to spend any day of the year with family?

Our time on this planet is short. We ought to make every effort to spend as many days of the year --above and beyond birthdays and holidays -- with those we love.

Who cares if you don't see your in-laws on the 31st? There's always January 1, 2, and so on.

I blame -- what else? -- the media and commercialization of these occasions for in graining in people's minds that these are the only days in the year that really count. You can always buy your mom a gift on, say, May 2 -- it doesn't only have to be on Mother's Day and her birthday. In fact, they say unexpected gestures are really the ones people value most -- when the rest of the world isn't necessarily celebrating anything.

People too often feel compelled to swim with the current and do whatever everyone else is doing. But why? Why not do things on your own terms?

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