Christmas. I love the idea of Christmas. Heart-warming movies, picking out our tree, meeting up with friends and family, big turkey dinner, I could go on. However, by half way through the holidays I always feel low. I call it the Christmas Lull.
It’s not that I don’t like all the things I’ve listed, I do. I just always get bored and scratchy around this time during the holidays. I always feel like I need to be ‘doing’ something. This is probably due to the sheer amount of lazing around I have done since Christmas day; the fact I cannot take the decorations down yet and I’m getting increasingly worried about the amount of Christmas chocolate my children are eating.
While I lay in bed last night, I started hatching plans in my head to paint our hallway before New Year. I quickly realised, all that work and mess would make everyone else miserable, so I gave up on the idea. Instead, I dragged everyone on a big walk to blow away some cobwebs and excess Christmas calories. This helped and I definitely recommend just getting out the house anytime you feel low or antsy.
Does anyone else get that post-Christmas lull? It cannot just be me. I’m not a Scrooge or Bah Humbug type of person. I do genuinely love Christmas time, but I feel like I’m milling about, just wasting time to get to New Year’s Eve. Which, If I am being honest, I don’t like.
I don’t like the expectation that you should do something for New Year’s Eve! We should go to a party, I must stay up to midnight, everyone has to enjoy ourselves!
It’s pressure we put on ourselves, to either please others or show others we are not boring old Fart-bag’s; Which, by the way, no one thinks this of us. No one cares, because they are too worried about what they going to be doing! So why do I still agonise over what to do on New Year’s Eve?
Maybe I will paint my entire hallway and finish it on the stroke of Midnight haha.
I think my answer is simple actually. I need to re-frame my mood to see this lull as an opportunity to do something for me. Which is more than just eating cheese. Maybe this is my opportunity to do more walking, writing or organise a cupboard or two. I also need to come up with a plan for New Year’s Eve that suits my family and not other people.
Sometimes, it’s difficult for me to re-frame my thinking. It’s hard to motivate myself to do things I know will help my mood. Writing and getting outside in the fresh air always makes me feel better. x
Mrs Mac