January blues are not all bad news

Putting away all the toys and decorations can be a sad event. I remember growing up and the experience of the first day of school back in January of ‘what did you get for Christmas?’ and then the sobriety of the teacher entering the classroom with returned exam papers and grades, of maybe going home to the report card (and its ramifications) that had been sent in the post, to home where, when while we had all been at back at school, mother had in our absence taken down the tree and the decorations.

The January blues can be the long hangover after Christmas returning to banality and to the ordinariness of things, to the ‘cold water on the face’ in the morning, to realism, to sobriety and to facing up to realities and responsibility, to the 'bread and butter' and to the bits and pieces of ordinary life. To a sense of anti-climax as we get up in the morning to face traffic, to work, to returning back separated once more from family life and reunions. For many there is the spectre of yet another year of unfulfilled resolutions, or a lingering sense of sadness that Christmas was not all it is cracked up to be.
For others there is relief that this painfully sad time of Christmas past is over for another year as negative emotions and nostalgia of what was lost in childhood or the memories of departed dear ones came to the fore over the Christmas season.

The January sales are over and as for this lull in January and February all we can do is put up with it - but it can be a chance to reboot, to recharge and to take stock. It is an opportunity to re-evaluate the important things in life, to jettison, to recycle and yes, de-clutter, as well as to get around to all those lists of jobs and errands that have awaited us and that we have put off for too long.

There may be that self-help book on the shelf that we finally get around to reading and in which we find some pearls of wisdom. There may be that gym membership I have neglected, that diet to put into action, or the daily reading or study plan, or that housework or cupboard crying out to be looked at. It is a time to get started all over again. With the clean up there can be things once lost that are re-found. With the putting away of the tinsel there can be a new sense of orderliness and breathing space that frees the mind as well. It can be a fresh start, a time of interior renewal and hope for what lies ahead, to be proactive rather than reactive, a time to enjoy the presents we have received and to savour the time and thought that people went to on our behalf, a time to ‘want what we have’ rather than to ‘have what we want’, to express our gratitude to the Lord for blessings received as we review the year behind us.

Gratitude gives us joy and a positive healthy perspective and a desire to give in return. Thank God for a New Year when we can make amends, and where necessary learn from past mistakes, accept our limitations yet strive to be better Christians, become more generous to the poor and less self-centred, seek less self-gratification, reach out and try to better listeners, jettison what is not necessary, step up to our responsibilities in the family and the wider community and live in greater freedom and joy.

Let us also resolve to be generous in our time to personal prayer before the Lord Jesus. Nowhere is it true as in prayer that 'in giving that we receive' enlightenment, encouragement, wisdom and guidance, perspective and a renewed sense of joy in mission, purpose, meaning and vocation.