You close your eyes on December 31st and wake up on January 1st and it’s the ultimate reset.
New year, a new beginning, a new start. But what happens when you wake up and it’s the opposite of the reset button? It’s not a shiny new year, it’s more of the same hard that you were walking through at the end of the last one. What if it’s a new year but it feels like the very same old you?
I think this happens more than we talk about. Last year was fairly stressful generally, I can only describe my approach to Christmas last year and new year as apathetic. So apathetic in fact that my husband and were still Christmas shopping as the shops closed on Christmas Eve. As Christmas and New Year’s prep go, I don’t recommend the method. It was my first Christmas without kids at home and I was struggling with how different it was going to be. In true me fashion, I buried my head in the sand (also not a suggested method).
The problem with New Year, new you is that during the old year, life happens. The fallout from all of the things that accumulate throughout the year, whatever they may be for you, stays with us. These can be relationship issues, problems our kids are having in school, being in the thick of raising children, financial issues, and everything in between. There are any number of things that can leave us feeling completely worn out when the new year rolls around.
This year I was so incredibly exhausted when January 1st hit. I just wanted to sleep until the next New Year. All the circumstances we face in life can knock us around. I think maybe we need to take a bit of pressure off ourselves and reframe the new year mentality. If you feel like it’s New Year, same circumstances, how can I better look after myself in the middle of this? What small steps do I have the capacity of taking to ensure I am really doing ok? The one step that I could take was twofold: I acknowledged I was not doing ok and booked an appointment with a counsellor.
You might not need to book an appointment with anyone, but you might need to have a coffee by yourself before the kids bombard you. You might need to spend more time reading the bible. You might need to reconnect with your husband. You might need to schedule date days with your kids. You might need to start with a small gratitude list – a reminder of all you have. Not everything resets with the calendar – we are human and we don’t work that way. Start small with the little things you can do in the midst of the chaos.
Article supplied with thanks to 1079life.
About the author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer. You can find her photos and writing at naturalhopephotography.fotomerchant.com/
Feature image: Photo by Aakash Dhage on Unsplash