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Just when you thought you might have a little break from all the anxiety created by this election year, Thanksgiving has appeared on the horizon.

As if the holiday that already boasts extra-high levels of stress due to travel and cooking mass quantities of food wasn't enough, the divisiveness that's been caused by this election has polarized friends and families in unprecedented ways.

With less than two weeks for us to process our feelings (because the universe likes to torture us), many of us will have to face those loved ones across a dinner table with only a cooked bird and roasted root vegetables to protect us.

Wouldn't it be great if you had a handy guide to help you navigate the sticky situations that might arise?

GIF via "Saturday Night Live."

Well, this year, you will! Upworthy reached out to our readers to find out how they plan to deal with uncomfortable political conversations when they arise at the Thanksgiving table. Hundreds of responses poured in, and we compiled the best ones for you.

Here are 25 ways people are navigating their Thanksgiving plans this year:

(Responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

1. "Focus on commonalities. Focus on positives. Plan topic ideas to bring up. Maybe ban political talk." — David Bishop/Twitter.

2. "Try to only say statements reasonable people should agree with: We need unity. People deserve equality and fairness." — Chris Blue/Twitter.

3. "Consider having a compassionate meal with friends instead. You don't have to go." — @Aviatrixt/Twitter.

Photo via iStock.

4. "For today, I'd rather have a good amicable relationship with them than be 'right' or 'win.' Because for a while there, our differences robbed us of being able to come together as a family. So there are things I won't engage with them about to maintain my own peace." — Alesandra Nahodil/Facebook.

5. "Just don't go. Stick with people you actually like. I don't understand why people keep up toxic relationships just because it's family and you think you have to. You don't." — Michelle Edgar/Facebook.

6. "I planned to host it at my house this year, however, the last time my family was together they tried to tell me the holocaust was a hoax... so I'm volunteering to feed the homeless instead!" — Mary Jordan/Facebook.

GIF via "SNL."

7. "I think this might be the year to have those conversations. We need to talk about what is going on, on a very personal level. If you are concerned about the racial hatred going on right now, you need to show that to your people — your family." — Louise Woletz-Hinz/Facebook.

8. "Kindly explain to them that they've been duped by a racist narcissist sociopath who will conspire with elites to make their condition worse." — Christopher R Walker/Twitter.

9. "Let the grandkids lecture the grandparents. It's devastatingly effective." — Hesiod Theogeny/Twitter.

10. "My plan is to simply not discuss politics at Thanksgiving. I won't bring it up and if anyone else does, I'll just leave the room." — Carrie Wiese/Facebook.

11. "Believe it or not, you CAN have healthy, functional and genuinely loving relationships with people who you don't agree with...Your beliefs are your own, and you are more likely to change a person's mind about something by being kind and being able to lightly and politely discuss things without getting emotionally charged." — Courtney Jonnae Hogan/Facebook.

12. "When it's being pushed, I simply say, 'We know we disagree with each other. I'd like to move on.' It may sound like weakness to some, but I've experienced more peace that way." —Jenn Visconti Stegman/Facebook.

13. "My general thoughts are that listening is needed to diffuse conservative fear and anger." — Matthew Troy-Regier/Twitter.

14. "Anyone wanting to talk about the election has to participate in a Hamilton style cabinet debate. No one except for the Hamilton fans can pull off a rap. So I think we'll be ok." — Amy Napier/Facebook.

Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images.

15. "Listen underneath 'who the enemy is' to what they really want, what they are really afraid of...because that's where there's a lot more common ground than we realize." — Zahava Griss/Facebook direct message.

17. "Do what I do:
Cousin: You're an embarrassment to the country for how you've acted about losing the election!
Me: LOOK the dog is humping the cat ISN'T THAT INTERESTING?!" — Cara Siegel/Facebook.

18. "Don't take the bait. This is going to be my mantra." — @krista225/Twitter.

19. "No politics at family gatherings. Talk about what we're grateful for, outside of the political arena." — Lisbeth Pierce/Twitter.

20. "Step 1: open Scotch." — @aplayonsarcasm/Twitter.

21. "Make sure dinner is so delicious they never stop chewing." — Linda Salazar/Twitter.

22. "I think it's important not to live in a bubble and an echo chamber which we often see on social media...Sometimes you just have to listen. If someone starts being irrational, throw facts and data at them. Be as dispassionate as you can." — Jason Nellis, via phone interview.

23. "Money Jar. Anyone who mentions anything to do with politics or government has to put $ in the jar. The fines increase every time the rule is broken." — Nicole Piazza/Facebook. (Note: Consider donating the money to a good cause!)

24. "I am using the line 'I have my pen and paper in hand ready to write down all the great things he does for all the citizens of this country including the elderly, working/middle class folks of all religions and nationalities.'" —Sheryl Friedrichs Byrnes/Facebook.

25. "I plan to say 'Let's find something better to talk about it.' As the hostess, you totally get to drive where the conversation goes. I didn't spend all those years watching Downton Abbey and not learn about having parties." — Courtney Widney/Facebook.

GIF via "Downton Abbey."

Of course, there's not a magical Thanksgiving solution that will work for all families — every family is different.

What may work great for one family could blow up in the faces of another. And yes, many of these tips aren't serious because humor is often the best way to cope in times like these (see "SNL's" "Thanksgiving Miracle" sketch). Sometimes, it's the only the thing that can bring everyone together, if only for a few minutes.

You don't have to bridge the gap between family members with opposing views for this Thanksgiving to be a good one. It's just about making it through without incurring too much emotional, mental, or — god forbid — physical damage.

And if that means bowing out this year, that's OK too. There's always next year ... or four years from now.

Lawyers' Committee

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

This has been a tough week for many of America's couples.

Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over the White House, interracial couples are afraid to go out in public for fear of physical or verbal assault. Gay couples are afraid their marriages might soon be disqualified by the Supreme Court.

But there's another kind of couple also battling fear and resentment right now: Couples where the two partners voted differently. Perhaps it was one for Trump, one for Clinton. Perhaps one member of the partnership didn't vote at all.

Whatever the reason, this new hurdle is threatening to rip many relationships apart.

"I've never seen this before," said Susan Falcon, a couples counselor of 25 years based in New Orleans. "Every four years there's an election, and sometimes the spouses might bicker about it, but I've never seen anything like this."

Some couples are turning to therapy (Falcon said she did, in fact, take on a few new clients this week for this very reason). Some are trying to find their own way through. Others are throwing in the towel altogether.

The question is, how can couples like these put their political differences aside for the sake of their relationship? Or can they at all? Here's what Falcon is telling her clients.

1. First, remember the person you fell in love with.

Photo by Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images.

Falcon, who sees an extremely diverse set of clients, said the most common scenario she's faced is a husband who voted for Trump and a wife who voted for Clinton.

"What's happening now is the Hillary spouse is really grieving. And afraid. And angry," she said. "And the Trump spouse feels that that's ridiculous, that that's a huge overreaction."

This fundamental disagreement can lead to the "Hillary spouse" seeing their partner, for the first time, as a racist and a misogynist. They might be this way, but there's also a chance that they aren't. So Falcon says her first and most important job is to get the partners, both of them, to reflect on each other and what made them fall in love in the first place; whether that's taking turns telling the story of their first date or swapping genuine compliments.

"If [she] wants to think Trump is Satan, she can have that," Falcon said. "But I try to get her to remember who she married."

2. Hillary voters: Remind yourself that your spouse is not, in fact, Donald Trump.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Falcon doubled down on this point. She says it's the key to not just getting past these election results as a couple, but in maintaining a healthy bond throughout the Trump presidency.

"I try to nail that down so that, going forward, everything Trump does will not feel like their partner's responsibility," she said. In other words, despite this being hard to digest: Just because someone voted for Trump doesn't mean they've endorsed all of his future actions.

Election Day and the inauguration after that are only the beginning of a four-year conversation.

3. Trump voters: Now is not the time to gloat. It is the time to comfort your spouse because they are experiencing real grief.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

To those on the "victorious side," the response to this election may seem melodramatic. But Falcon reminds us that Clinton supporters are actually in a legitimate, and deep, state of mourning.

In fact, Falcon said she actually talks to her clients about the stages of grief. (You know: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.)

"I try to get the Trump spouse to understand the emotions of the Hillary spouse and to assume that she would have been loving and supportive toward them had Hillary won," she said.

4. But to both people, Falcon says listening is key. Really listening.

Here's an exercise you can try:

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

In order to civilly "agree to disagree," you have to properly understand each other's position. Falcon recommends an exercise in which each partner takes turns "interviewing" the other about their views or support for their candidate.

There's just one catch: No arguing.

"The spouse asking the questions, their job is only to listen, take notes, reflect on what they're saying," Falcon said. "I don't let them argue or try to convince their spouse otherwise. I just want them to listen quietly and just leave it at that."

She admits this is a little easier in the presence of a neutral third party, so enlist one if you can.

5. And in the end, remember that, even if it feels like it, this is probably not the actual end of the world.

Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images.

A Trump presidency may mean really bad things for a lot of people. That much cannot be swept under the rug. But there will also be a lot of good people fighting for what's right. For that reason, at least, the world is not likely to come to an actual end.

"I'm older than a lot of my clients, so I try to give them some perspective," Falcon said. She talked about the first time she voted, when she was a 19-year-old student at Louisiana State University. She had friends who died in the Vietnam War, leading her to protest heavily. So when she watched Richard Nixon win the presidency on a small portable TV, she was devastated.

"I really believed, at 19, that it was the end of the world, but it wasn't," she said. "It wasn't the end of the world."

Getting through a major difference in world views, like the one Trump's election has presented, will take hard work from both partners.

It's not about the Clinton voter "getting over it" or the Trump voter constantly apologizing for the behavior of his candidate. It's about coming together and reuniting over common ground, over the things that made you fall in love in the first place.

And in the end, Falcon just wants couples to make one simple decision:

"Trump may damage our country," she says. "But it's up to you if you let him damage your marriage."

Before the 2016 presidential election season began, most American relationships looked like this.

Ah, to be in love. Photo via iStock.

Now, after nearly a year of wall-to-wall, 24/7 politics, here's what many of those same relationships look like:

Breaker one-nine? Photo by Cameron Strandberg/Flickr.

Yes, since the race for the White House kicked off in earnest, far too many romantic partnerships have gone down in flames — over an ill-timed assertion that Donald Trump actually has some good ideas; that Hillary Clinton is an evil, conniving, tax-and-spend liberal, corporate shill, crypto-conservative, secret socialist, liar, unredeemable she-demon whose one facial expression that one time disqualifies her from the presidency; or that John Kasich is strangely attractive in a median dad kind of way.

But it doesn't have to be that way!

Even if you're the world's biggest Ted Cruz booster and your significant other is the last remaining Martin O'Malley holdout, take heart! You can still make it work!

How do I know? There are couples all over this country doing it right now.

And I talked to some of them:

Pam and Bill Atkinson (top left), Rick Taft and Kristi Tollefson-Taft (top right), Bob Miller and Marilyn Cote Miller (bottom left), Rachelle Brady (bottom right). All photos used with permission.

Here are 13 of their secret tips for navigating a relationship with a partner who is so clearly, obviously, totally, 100% wrong about everything:

1. Find a common enemy.

Kristi Tollefson-Taft and Rick Taft. Photo by Kristi Tollefson-Taft, used with permission.

Longtime Obama supporter Kristi Tollefson-Taft told Upworthy that she used to chafe at her husband Rick's libertarian-conservative opinions until they both realized they'd rather listen to each other than the scream-ier voices from their respective parties.

"The loudest are the extremes from both sides. We talk about that a lot," Kristi said.

2. Don't drink the #haterade.

Marilyn Cote Miller and Bob Miller. Photo by Marilyn Cote Miller and Bob Miller, used with permission.

"I can disagree with somebody’s policy without taking it to the level of hate," Bob Miller told Upworthy. He, a longtime Republican, and his wife Marilyn, a Bernie Sanders supporter, almost never fight about politics despite differing on plenty of big issues.

The secret? They banned the word "hate" from their Tampa, Florida-area home — and aren't too proud to resort to bribery to enforce the embargo.

"My mother would often say, ‘I hate that actor’ or ‘I hate that ... anything,'" Marilyn said. "And Bob would say, ‘Jane, every time you say “hate,” I’m gonna charge you a quarter because we just don’t like the word.’ And so my mother started saying, ‘I strongly dislike…’ We did get her to stop using the word hate!"

3. Recognize that not agreeing on everything can actually be kind of fun and interesting sometimes.

No opinions lightly held among meerkats. Photo by Wensbos/Pixabay.

While the Millers debated the pros and cons of Obamacare along with the rest of the country, they never really came to a consensus — and they prefer it that way.

"How we actually resolved it is: We don’t resolve it," Marilyn said. She explained that not always seeing eye-to-eye has been a positive force in their relationship.

"I read a quote years ago. Years and years ago. Maybe 30 years ago. And I had it on my refrigerator forever, and it says, ‘If two people always agree, one of them isn’t thinking.’ And I love it," Marilyn said.

4. Designate a "politics-free zone" in your house. Even if it's the whole house.

Bill and Pam Atkinson. Photo by Bill and Pam Atkinson, used with permission.

That's what Pam and Bill Atkinson of Bloomington, Illinois, did — initially so they could have their (mostly Democrat-leaning) friends over without everyone going home angry.

"They don’t want to hear me be correct so much, being a Republican," Bill, a Donald Trump supporter, joked to Upworthy.

Pretty soon, the couple, who, according to Pam, disagree on "most everything," realized it was a good rule to abide by all the time. So they designated their whole house a "politics-free zone."

"We just don’t like to argue," Bill said.

5. If you do wind up debating each other, have a sense of humor about it.

Kennedy v. Nixon. Photo by United Press International/Wikimedia Commons.

Not liking to argue, however, doesn't prevent the Atkinsons from, well ... arguing. No more than 90 seconds into our conversation, the couple started going back and forth about the economic impact of a local prison.

"See! This is how it starts, and then it just goes downhill from there," Pam said, laughing.

Everyone seemed delighted, and no one's feelings appeared hurt. Sense of humor? Check.

6. On election nights, do something besides watch the news.

Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no law requiring couples to stay home every Tuesday during primary season staring at their 24-hour news network of choice while making snide comments under their breath at one another.

Lucky for the Atkinsons, they realized this early on and decided it wasn't healthy for their relationship.

“Instead of staying home [on Super Tuesday] and watching the news or watching something, we’re gonna go to the Normal Theater to go see ‘The Quiet Man,'" Bill said.

7. You don't need to tell each other who you're voting for.

Clinton photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Trump photo by Rhona Wise/Getty Images.

Not only do Pam and Bill Atkinson rarely talk politics at home, but Pam has resolved to never, ever tell Bill who she's voting for.

It's so important to her that she would not reveal her choice for this article — even after Bill offered to leave the room.

"She never tells me. Even when it comes to presidential elections, she won’t tell me!" Bill said.

8. If you have to tease each other, make sure it's actually loving, not pretend-loving-but-actually-snarky.

"THIS IS HOW I EXPRESS MY AFFECTION DO YOU LOVE IT?!" Photo via iStock.

"The only thing I’ve said, and I posted it on Facebook, was that I used my vote to cancel out his," Pam said, laughing again.

9. Frame your political discussions as something you do together as a couple.

"We’ve been doing a lot of surmising, and political analyzation and sociological and psychological analyzation of the country at the moment," Kristi Tollefson-Taft said.

"Oh, I got a good one, Carl. Grass. Yay or nay?" Photo by nuzree/Pixabay.

The Tafts said they try hard not to impose their own beliefs on their children and prefer to teach them to think and talk critically about politics — and to always question their own biases.

"It became very clear that we need to tell them that there are numerous opinions on subjects and they should have, in their toolbox, ways to make their own judgments," Kristi said.

10. Make sure to remind yourself that your partner's politics are not necessarily the most important aspect of who they are.

Photo by DonkeyHotey/Flickr.

"My first marriage, I was married to somebody who talking politics [with] was like preaching to the choir, and that marriage didn’t last," Pam Atkinson recalled. "So I came to the realization that politics is not the end-all, be-all of a relationship."

It's a sentiment all the couples I spoke to shared.

“If you talk about a relationship, if the only thing you disagree on is politics, I’d say...” Bob Miller began.

"...we’re doing pretty good," Marilyn continued, finishing his sentence without missing a beat.

11. If the relationship can't work because your politics are too different, there's no shame in that.

Photo via iStock.

Rachelle Brady, a Bernie Sanders supporter, told Upworthy she was shocked when she found out her boyfriend was planning to vote for Donald Trump but that trying to change his views, ultimately, did more harm than good to the relationship.

"What that did was prevent me from actually loving him where he was as a person without trying to impose my expectations on him," Brady said.

She and her boyfriend eventually called it quits over what Brady described as a conflict of values. Brady believes ending things freed her to not only "live what she believes in," but to engage her ex in a more open and honest way.

"That type of perspective has made it possible for us to move forward in our relationship. So, it changed form, but we still have a relationship," Brady said.

12. Always assume your partner has good intentions, even if their opinions make you want to scream out an open window.

"I know you're just batting my face incessantly because you care, not because you want to scratch my eyeballs out." Photo by Prskavka/Wikimedia Commons.

The trick to a healthy political argument in a relationship, according to the Tafts, is always assuming your partner is coming from a good place no matter how much you might want to handcuff them to a chair and force them to watch Rachel Maddow (or Bill O'Reilly) until they get it, dammit.

"The secret sauce, in my mind, is recognizing and respecting that we can be different and not sitting in judgment of that difference," Rick Taft said.

13. Most importantly, never lose sight of what really matters most.

Photo by Bill and Pam Atkinson, used with permission.

"Different people are going to believe different things, and you know what? That’s OK," Rick Taft said.

"Our relationship is built on much more than our political point of view," Bob Miller said. Marilyn added: "It’s respect for each other, and it’s love."

"The fact that [Bill's] wrong in his political beliefs doesn’t make me love him any less," Pam Atkinson said.

If all else fails, just remember that in only eight months' time, you won't be arguing about politics anymore.

Photo by Chris Denny/Geograph.uk.

You'll be arguing about whether to buy a house in Canada instead.