January 2, 2013 – The first week of January has to be the saddest week of the year.
Not only do we take down the tree and decorations, we wonder where December went, deal with those scary holiday credit card bills and accept that a long, cold winter (at least where I live) has come to stay for a while.
Officially, I don’t suffer from seasonal effective disorder, but I do get a little blue during the early winter. For me it kicks into full gear on January 2, the day after the holiday season ends.
Crazy, isn’t it? I should be excited and happy. Starting a new year is a lot like a “do over”, and there is something quite appealing about that. Who doesn’t dream of starting fresh, or getting another chance to do it right or do it differently? If the new year occurred during the spring, summer or fall, it probably would be another story.
I suppose you can tell I’m not the biggest fan of January, February and March. As a sports fan, once my team is out of the football playoffs (and we didn’t even make it this year), there’s nothing to occupy my sports allotted time until opening day of the baseball season, and I have to wait until April for that. I don’t enjoy cold weather activities such as skiing or snowboarding, so once that winter sun sets, I’m purposely housebound. And I don’t want to wish away the winter because that’s a quarter of the year I feel like I would miss.
Psychiatrists say it’s not unusual to feel blue this time of year, and for that feeling to continue for about a week or two. Aside from my sports woes, I’m thankful that my blues leave as quickly as they arrive. Yet it is comforting to know I’m not alone.
So, this year I won’t beat myself up over my lousy mood the first few days/weeks of January. I’ll struggle through those days like I always do, knowing that by mid month, it will have passed, I’ll be back in the groove, and I’ll celebrate and appreciate the new year. I’ll come to realize that I can’t have the feeling the holiday season brings year round, or I wouldn’t appreciate it nearly as much.
I have to come back to earth sometime. And the day after is perfect for making that happen.
janemcmaster 