By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
As we bid farewell to the holiday season, we treasure cherished memories, sweet experiences, laughter, an unexpected gift, and some moments best forgotten. Many of us feel a sense of melancholy, the anticipation of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day are replaced by the ho-hum of the months ahead. The post-holiday blues are depressing but take heart!
Here are 5 ways to put up a shield of defense:
- Connect with Loved Ones
Open your calendar and schedule getting together with loved ones throughout the year. Take the initiative to organize those special moments, and your endeavors will be appreciated. The love-meter in your heart will thank you.
- Create a Gratitude Journal
Fight those blues by establishing a gratitude journal. Documenting special moments and revisiting the past is a prescription for a happy soul. Years ago, I decided to initiate a gratitude journal into my daily routine, and I’ve never regretted it. Even when a day isn’t good, we can find something that shows our gratitude for God’s provision and purpose for our lives.
- Volunteer and Give Back
Have you ever heard the best way to feel good about yourself is to do something for others? Volunteering for church, community, and hospital needs are just a few of the ways to give back—with a smile.
- Learn a New Skill or Hobby
This excites me just typing the idea. I love to cook and garden, so I’m always looking for new challenges in those areas. Creative writing, various art endeavors, crafts, music, reading a new genre of literature, and the list goes on. You’ll find your energy restored, and your heart filled with happiness.
- Prioritize your Spiritual Life
The most important relationship in our lives is the one established with God. By beginning each day involved in Scripture and focused prayer, we are giving God our priority. When we seek Him wholeheartedly, He blesses us with peace and joy.
By incorporating one or more of these strategies, we overcome the post-holiday blues. Consider other defenses such as deliberate rest and relaxation times, mini vacations, developing a hospitality calendar to include new people, consciously enjoying each season of the year, and more.
What is one way you plan to experience the adventure of every day in 2024?
Comments 22
DiAnn,
Thanks for workable and meaningful things to do that can bring buoyancy to one’s life. Very good list. Often I choose a word to be on lookout for when I read the Bible or listen to others. One year it was PATH or pathway. God spoke to me in many ways when that word showed up. He guided me on paths. It was an adventure! I still keep turned in to that word.
Hi Charlotte, thanks for your comments. I really like PATH or pathway. Mine this year is peace. We are always on a glorious adventure with God.
This is the fifth year that our pastor has given us a reading plan to read the entire Bible in one year. I am very thankful for him to do this. I also joined a Ladies’ Bible Study Tuesday Nights. I find if I keep grounded in God’s Holy Word that I stay more positive each day.
Linda, I love when a church reads and studies the Bible together. Right now we’re doing a church-wide study on Acts. God is thrilled when we study His Word.
I like the hospitality calendar idea. It’s much more specific than our “We should invite _______ over sometime.”
I’ve joined a Wise Fitness class twice a week where we learn the correct way to lift weights (10-15lb) and strengthen our muscles overall. We had the first class today and I managed to lift my fork at lunch afterward so I think I will survive the class!
Before going to sleep at night, I think of at least three things that make me smile.
Karen, I love how you are bettering yourself to better serve others.
I don’t make resolutions or set goals (I know I won’t kept them!), but I have begun my year by giving back–giving back the help I received when I first started writing. There are people in my retirement community who have decided now is the time to write family stories or The Next Great American Novel. At the moment, I’m giving two all the help I can. Perhaps I will be able to help others along the way.
Peggy, that’s wonderful. I call helping others create memories a spiritual legacy.
Great tips, DiAnn. I love the hospitality calendar idea!
Teresa, I think it helps us keep in touch all year and not just during the holidays.
Such great ways to get our thoughts on track and start the new year looking forward and not backward. Happy New Year, DiAnn!
Happy New Year, Barbara, possibly new year intentions rather than new year resolutions is the best mindset. 🙂
All great thoughts Ms. DiAnn. Praying you and your family a most-blessed 2024 ma’am. Any new books coming out this year?
Thanks, J.D. Many wishes for your New Year too. I have an early September release: Lethal Standoff. How about you? How is your writing life?
Thanks for the encouragement, but att he moment are due to discouragement over my writing situation. I chersish all your great hints.
Frances, I’m praying for you – for God to wrap His arms around you and let you know how much He loves and values you.
These are excellent suggestions, DiAnn! I have kept a gratitude journal in the past, and are doing that again this year. It’s also important to keep focused on our spiritual life, too. I’m delighted to have found a new way to tackle the Bible so that I can read it through in a year. Exciting!
Blessings!
Thanks, Martha, like you, I believe in reading through the Bible in a year. Nothing like filling our spiritual bank.
We have birthdays to celebrate. That’s something to look forward to after the holiday celebrations.
Connie I love birthday celebrations. Let the rejoicing continue.
Starting a new writing course, which excites me. Growing things with hydroponics. Playing with my new composter, preparing soil for when I can plant outside. Planning a small trip to visit my sister.
Thanks, Ann. You are a busy lady. Let me know how you enjoy the writing course and growing things with hydroponics.