This week we enter what I consider to be the hardest period of the Holiday Blues – the Post-Holiday Blues. Schedules go back to normal. There’s nothing special on the calendar. The weather is cold and dreary. The sun is in a deep hibernation (at least here in Pittsburgh!). Your holiday decorations have been put away or they’re still up because you don’t have the energy to take them down. You feel bloated and lethargic after eating all of the holiday leftovers over the weekend. Your Family, friends and clients seem a bit more needy because they too are feeling the post-holiday blues. And to top it off you are in an office with little human contact or working from home with the people you’ve just spent the past two weeks (or ten months) with and even though you love them dearly you could really use a break. (Just typing this is making me feel more blah!)
What might help is some Positive Anticipation. Something to look forward to. Something new! Something exciting!
But we are still facing a global pandemic so what is that something new and exciting supposed to look like? After accepting the fact that “new and exciting” in 2021 is not going to look that same as it has in the past, try this . . . .
1) Select one of the
ideas listed below (or come up with your own idea!)
2) Pick a date that
is one to two weeks away to do the selected activity
3) Write or Enter
the activity on your calendar
4) Write the date and activity on a postee and place it somewhere where you will see it on a daily basis to remind yourself that you have this new and fun activity to anticipate.
- Try a
new recipe - Check out Pinterest or google OR dig out your grandma’s old cookbook
and try a classic!
- Buy a
new boardgame to play with your family (or swap games with a friend)
- Schedule
a day to go on a hike on a trail you’ve never tried before Don’t worry about
the weather – bundle up!
- Order take out from a restaurant you’ve never eaten at before
- Read a
book - When is the last time you shut off your electronics and got lost in a
good mystery or a saucy romance?
- Pick a
new TV show or movie to watch. If you
think you’ve watched them all over the past ten months, check out a classic!
- Organize a Minute to Win it game night for your family. Check out this link to some winter-themed games using materials that you may have at home or that you can find at the dollar store: Winter Minute to Win It - Primary Playground
- Invite your family or friends to a Virtual Game Night or Happy Hour. Follow this link to some game ideas to play virtually many of which are FREE: How to Play Hilarious Group Games Virtually - Money Fit Moms
But if we learn to
think of it as anticipation, as learning, as growing, if we think of the time
we spend waiting for the big things of life as an opportunity instead of a
passing of time, what wonderful horizons open out!
