I bloody hate January!

2011 huh?!
January is one of those odd months isn't it? First of all we have the post Christmas blues. All the hard work, organisation and excitement over far too quickly...and was it really all worth it? For all the planning and stress in early December, did it all really live up to expectations?
Why did we debate long and hard over the colour of the thermal scarf when it has just been spotted gathering dust behind the kitchen chair, label still in place?
For how many more weeks will we be dragging the oversized smoked salmon and huge wheel of stinky cheese out of the fridge for lunch?
And what if the family cannot recover from the cross words blurted out over a heated Christmas contretemps?
Then of course January would not be January without a few New Years resolutions in the mix. Naturally, New Years day doesn't count because who wants to start a fitness regime with the mother of all hangovers, or get stuck into spring cleaning their lives when the fire is alight and there is a half a tin of Quality Street to finish? Then undoubtedly there comes the guilt when it is now the 5th January and you still haven't started the clear out, no run has been completed, and you have had three rather large arguments with various people after promising that this year was to be the most serene, calm, grown up version of you of all time!
Shit!
So by the time January ends you have most likely thrown out the bloody resolutions along with the salmon. You have decided for the tenth year running that they serve no purpose other than to make you ridden with guilt when you cannot stick to them. You are cranky and annoyed and disillusioned with life!
Or maybe that's just me?

So this year, I am going to pretend its February already! I will skip the days of feeling bad at the already broken promises to myself, I am going to ignore the lingering doubts about the merits of Christmas and I am going to jump straight into looking forward to spring. To the daffodils poking their heads through the soil, to new buds on the tree branches, to longer days and warmer weather. With this attitude I am hoping will come a glow of positivity. The idea is that with no January to depress me, I will get excited about pulling on my Nike's and trotting out for a run, I will relish the thought of de-cluttering my junk, I will only want to put healthful goodies into my post Christmas body and I will be a happier, calmer, nicer, more patient member of the human race.

My 39 years on this planet have finally made me realise that you are always going to be you. No matter how hard you try to change, your character and personality are always going to be the same. So instead of trying to change, just be you, but be the best version of you there is. And how you do that is not by beating yourself up about all the bad stuff but buoying up all the good.

Happy New Year Freedom Lovers!