For many, this season of joy and merrymaking is, in fact, the most wonderful time of the year.

Simultaneously, however, many of us spend this time struggling with interactions (or possible, future interactions) with family, friends, and colleagues who – intentionally or unintentionally—say and/or do things that leave us shaking our heads.

With this in mind, I thought I would send along a way of thinking about naysayers that’s been amusing me since October.

(Fair warning: this link contains a lot of…colorful language)

It’s an interview between Gabrielle Union and Lena Dunham and the line that stuck with me was from a moment when Ms. Union was talking about how—no matter what you do— there will always be people who find something to pick at.

She said:

“You could literally save mankind, and people would be like, “Is that what you wore to save mankind? Gosh, it would be so much better if your thigh gap was bigger when you saved mankind,” or, “Oh, that’s a really plunging neckline when you saved mankind,” or, “I wish you had worn your hair natural when you saved mankind.” There’s going to be a peanut gallery of naysayers, no matter what you do.”

So on the off chance that although you find this season joyful, you are also experiencing a smidge of anxiety, I send these words along to amuse and/or remind you that sometimes, no matter what you do, there are people are will find something negative to say.

What’s my advice? Shake your head and move on.

If you enjoyed this piece about best practices for combining family and the holidays you might also enjoy “The Flip Side: AKA Your Holiday/New Year Survival Guide”