January Yellows

As someone who grew up in the Southern Hemisphere and is used to summer being stretched from November to March, it has taken me time to get used to having winter in January. During my first year of living in the UK, I was warned by other South African ex-pats living in the UK, that it is not the first winter you need to worry about, it is your 2nd winter. I have learnt it is the 2nd winter and then all the other winters after that. I am entering my 9th winter in this country and even though I am in fact enjoying it, in winters past I experienced the January Blues multiplied by a 1000!

The first winter and first Nothern Hemisphere Christmas is a novelty. You indulge in all the wonderful festivities surrounding Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere - festive hot drinks, Christmas jumpers, playing in the snow ( if it does snow), joining in singing Christmas carols ( and finally understanding that baby, it is very cold outside). It is great. Then after Christmas you enter January and even though the fun and enjoyment of the festive season is over, it is still a novelty. The first winter in the UK and you get to wear all your lovely knitwear, bundle up with coats, hats, scarves and gloves. You find the idea of bundling up for a walk around the park or going out to meet friends, as something enjoyable and fun. You laugh at yourself for slipping on the precarious black ice patch that many people warned you about. Yes - the first winter in the NH is fun, exciting and a novelty.

Dressing up in the winter kit can be part of the fun of the season.

The 2nd winter onwards, you might find a struggle. The bundling up of layers before leaving your house becomes part of your time management so you can leave the house on time and be suitably dressed. All the lovely knitwear that you have is hidden under the numerous thick jackets and coats you have on and still you can feel the cold; the plan to meet friends involves strategising where might be open and have enough space for you ( and all your winter clothes). The consumption of hot drinks increases ten fold and you find yourself consuming the oddest flavours of drinks simply to warm yourself from the inside out. The avoidance of the black ice patches becomes an intense plan of navigating these deathly spots of ice. You do get used to all the different parts of a cold and wintery January, especially as a woman used to a blustery hot January in the Southern Hemisphere.

The one part of January and a Northern Hemisphere winter I am still coming to terms with, is the January Blues. I understand that after the fun & frivolity of Christmas and the Festive Season, January can hit you like a wave of sadness & depression. The statistics that are shared about January and January Blues include around 20% of people report they experience some sort of depression, over 68% of shift workers in the UK report January as the toughest month while January is reported of being the least productuve month out of the year. The concept of the Blue Monday (the third Monday of January) has been labelled as a myth and a marketing ploy, but you understand why people would find the day tough - Mondays are known to be difficult days and then the third Monday of the least productive month of the year - that is an explosive combination!

January Blues can be a tough thing to navigate

The reason why so many people report to struggle with January especially in the Northern Hemisphere, is completely understandable. It is cold, dark, Christmas is over for another year and most people are struggling with financial worries ( having overspent in December). There are so many reasons why it should be a challenging month - yet for me, this year I am in fact enjoying this January, so far. I am approaching this January with the opposite colour of blue on the colour wheel - yellow! I am having January Yellows.

January Yellows!

The opposite of blue is yellow so do things to take part which are fun, light and de-lightful!

I have planned activities to look forward to and friends to catch up with in the upcoming month. I have an exercise plan which involves both indoor and outdoor exercise and helps with boosting my endorphins. For the first time in my life, I can actually say I am taking it one day at a time; yes, I have plans but I am not putting pressure on myself to complete plans or 'fulfil resolutions'! Nope - I am taking it one day at a time. I am filling my days with light, fun and delight. I have obligations and tasks which need to be completed - of course I do, but as opposed to my usual approach which was getting them all done as quickly as possible so I can move onto the next - I am taking it one step at a time. My January Yellows is to embrace the delights that this month has to offer and letting it propel me through each day. I am allowing myself the opportunity to utilise my day and my time as best as possible, by doing things which I know will help me and assist me through this month.

One of the things I am doing is list making. Like me, you might be an epic list maker. You have dozens of lists on your phone, on the back of receipts, on exposed part of your skin - anywhere and everywhere. It helps with planning and preparation in any circumstance. I howevere get trapped in the deluge of list making. I make lists of what lists to make. I lose my lists, I have duplicate copies of lists and so get confused with which list is more important. So when my sister suggested to me that I should try this exercise out with lists, I almost screamed.

Making lists is helpful to regain control

My sister suggested to me that before I go to bed at night, I write down everything I need to do. Everything. She then said this is not a priority list but rather a 'to-do-when- you can' list. in the last few evenings that I have completed this exercise, I have written down everything I have needed to do from washing my face, to sorting out my kids school snack, to drinking more water and paying a bill. The simple act of writing it down on a scrap piece of paper as freed me from the torture I was experiencing when I went to bed at night. I would find myself tossing and turning with all these thoughts running in my head and then eventually collapsing into a flitful sleep for a few hours. Now, when I make my list at night, and write down everything that needs to be done, it is like the onus of the tasks is on the paper it is written on. The weight of the task transfers to the paper. And then joy of ticking off what I have done - oh my word! It is de-light-ful! When I look back on my lists and see what I have done during the day - I might not have ticked everything but the things which I have ticked off are big tasks and are completed. It feels amazing. This exercise I truly believe has helped me to approach my days with the idea of one day at a time. And it has been amazing. The list is in one place and I know that my list is next to my bed and that is where it stays. I transfer all of my obligations, my priorities, my goals, my aims - everything onto this list everynight and I know then that I do not have to worry about it- it is on the list and I will get to it when I can. The task will get done and I will get to tick it off but I am not going to panic, worry and stress about it as it is on the list and I have written it down for the paper to hold onto for now. Through this exercise I am finding I can embrace my January Yellows and I am feeling much lighter!

So for me, this January is not going to be filled with the January Blues - but rather, January Yellows. It is going to be about doing things which fill me with light, fun & delight. I am going to take back this January and learn from my behaviour which I have found so useful up to now. I am going to take it one day at a time, one act at a time. I am not going to put so much pressure on myself - for me this is a biggie. In years gone by I have found that I hit January with so much gusto ( New Year and New Me energy) that by the 2nd week of the month, I am knee deep in self-resentment and all my supposed resolutions have gone out the window. The opposite colour of blue on the colur wheel is orange and yellow - so I plan on doing the opposite of what I have normally done in the past. I really don't want this January to be repeat of past January's; this year I want my January to be filled with January Yellows- light, fun and delight!