When January rolls around,
I’ve just lived through a month
crammed full of
emotions
activities
expectations
pressures.
a whirlwind
of messages,
experiences,
personalities,
and things
to navigate.
When January rolls around
the last thing I need
is to hear
IT’S TIME!
to think about new goals
new to-do’s
new tactics
new strategies.
When January rolls around,
I don’t need more stuff to sign up for,
more ways to jumpstart my way to success,
more things to buy,
more calls to action
more pressure to
do more
be more
create more
get more
live more
attract more
engage more
achieve more.
When January rolls around
the last thing I need is
to be told anything other than how
I’m actually already doing PRETTY GREAT with all the things being thrown at me thank you very much!
When January rolls around,
I need to recover
From December.
And maybe from the whole entire year itself.
I need to just be for a bit.
And I might need that for February as well.
I might need to ebb and flow outside of the calendar year.
Sometimes,
I place my own hand
On my own heart
As I inhale with my own breath
And say with my own voice
To my own self,
“My friend.”
And then
as I exhale
With my own breath
I say to my own self
With my own hand on my own heart,
“My friend.”
When people are
pushing and dictating and selling and shaming,
I inhale
and say with my own voice to my own self, “My friend.”
I exhale
and say with my own voice to my own self, “My friend.”
When people are
apparently only experiencing great fantastic things
no setbacks struggles demotions wrinkles or outdated eyewear
they’re able to grow their own organic produce
and still have time to achieve rock hard abs
while writing a poem a day
and running their own company
which is responsible for helping to solve some geopolitical crisis…
I inhale
and say with my own voice to my own self, “My friend.”
I exhale
and say with my own voice to my own self, “My friend.”
What I’m saying is,
I’m juggling a lot
And I bet you are too
and still
almost everywhere we go
are messages
that it’s not enough,
that we
are not enough.
What I’m saying is
when January rolls around
and February
and every month after that
not many people
or organizations
or societal messages
go easy on us.
Maybe when January rolls around
we go easy
on ourselves.
*This practice of deep breathing combined with healthy self-talk is from episode 3, season 6 of The Happiness Lab podcast.