Christmas is over, the holidays are done and dusted, and you’re back at work. You’ve spent too much money, you’re already wondering how on earth you are going to keep your resolutions and you’re not even sure you are that happy anymore… Happy New Year!
Sometimes, the outlook seems pretty grim and as we come down from all the hype, rapidly descending back to earth and looking around us, we don’t always like what we see. We may have managed to hide away from our reality for a few weeks but now it’s staring us in the face and we have no choice but to acknowledge it.
It is completely normal to be feeling down in January. After all, what is there to look forward to in the next few weeks, apart from trying to lose the weight that we put on and grey miserable skies? It all seems a bit doom and gloom…
The reason why so many of us feel that way is because we have often unconsciously put all of our problems at the back of our minds so that we could escape from it all. We just want a breather from what we don’t like in our lives and enjoy the build up to Christmas and the holidays. In a weird kind of way, it’s a bit like we are somehow hoping a miracle will take place, but once it’s over, we are left with what we didn’t want to face up to and decided to take a break from in the first place.
There are numerous articles on how to deal with the New Year Blues, advising you to book a holiday or whatever else, but the truth is, all this advice is fraught and only conducive to one thing… you will be hiding away from the problems once more.
A lot of people just plod through life… They are stuck in the same hamster wheel, going in the same direction and trying not to rock the boat. Is that you too? And wouldn’t you like to feel that you haven’t got the New Year Blues this time next year? Because to be honest, unless you deal with the issues, you will feel exactly the same as you do now… And as you probably did last year too. Unfortunately, you are not going to wake up tomorrow to find that all the problems have now gone unless you take action to move forward.
So how can you improve your life? What is it that you would really like to do or be? What are the steps required to get there? What do you need to face up to? Going through this process isn’t just about setting random goals, it’s about constructing a plan that will allow you to feel happy the next time January comes along. All too often, when we assess our lives over the previous year, we tend to focus on what didn’t go so well and how nothing has changed… And the reason why nothing has changed is because you haven’t done anything about it, but somehow still expected a different outcome. The truth is that unless you do something, the status quo will remain in place. Addressing the problem is always easier than we think, it’s the fear of the unknown, the fear of happiness and the fear of success that holds you back.
How serious are you about being happy? And what about starting now?
