What now that the holidays are over?
The tree has been taken down, the decorations stored in their boxes under the stairs for another year. The kids have left, gone back to work or school. The house is oddly quiet again, the shoes by the door gone.
It goes so fast this Christmas season. Baking and cleaning, shopping and wrapping with the anticipation of family time. Then in a blink, the leftovers are finished, the lights turned off, and it’s over.
We could allow melancholy to settle into the bones,
mourning the swift passing of sweet times.
It’s at this point, where we come to a crossroads. We could allow melancholy to settle into the bones, mourning the swift passing of sweet times. We could let fear envelope our minds with all the unknowns a new year brings. If we let ourselves follow this line of thinking, we could spiral into an anxious mind game that is difficult to extract ourselves from.
If you struggle with this time of year, with Christmas in the rearview mirror and a new year stretching ahead of you, be intentional to keep a tight rein on your thoughts. Being in a melancholy frame of mind is not a good time to reflect on the past, how the babies are all grown and gone. It only highlights feelings of loss and finality instead of gratitude for the blessings that were.
We could allow our creative juices to flow,
as this in itself is a therapy that can replace sadness.
There is a different route we could take. Instead of looking backward, we could look forward with anticipation. We could dream of new projects to tackle, be it painting a room, redoing a piece of furniture, or planning the garden for when spring returns. What flowers should I plant? How can I redesign a shrub bed? What freshness can I bring to the room that now seems empty with the Christmas tree gone? We could allow our creative juices to flow, as this in itself is a therapy that can replace sadness.
Maybe we want to set new goals for yourselves. Eat better, move more, have quiet time with God, clean out the closet, be more organized. These are all worthy goals and can motivate us to look forward, but grace must be applied for the times we slip up and lose the steps we gained—slow and steady forward momentum is all we need– not perfection. No good things happen overnight.
Our emotions are linked to our thoughts. We do not need to let our thoughts wander like untamed puppies, wreaking havoc on our emotions. We have the agency to control what we think. Like an unfinished sentence, we must cut off the unproductive, meandering thought. It does not deserve to be entertained. And in its place, we can begin to plan, dream and pursue.
We do not need to let our thoughts wander like untamed
puppies, wreaking havoc on our emotions.
The Bible is full of admonitions for us to capture our thoughts and to keep our faces turned forward. Let’s aim to fill our minds with good, uplifting things; things that are true, pure and lovely. And one excellent way of doing this is by filling our minds with the Word of God.
Maybe we need to determine again, that we will daily pick up our Bible, read truth, and soak our souls in hope.
Keep your eyes focused on what is right,
Proverbs 4:25
and look straight ahead to what is good.
