January: Fresh Start or Tired, Cold and Grumpy?


Sometimes you wake from a deep sleep and for a moment, you don't know where or when you are. If you woke up that way today, what clues in your thoughts and perceptions would let you know that it is January?

As much as we talk as if the holidays leave us energized and eager for the new year, I suspect that's not what most of us experience. I suspect that many of us wake from the holidays feeling a little tired, a little scattered, and ready to be more persistent than inspired. We've probably been through some emotional ups and downs and if we live in Canada (where I'm writing this), it's cold outside and we go to work and return from work in the dark. Even if you love winter sports, winter work is a bit of a hard sell.

If you want fresh energy for a new year, you'll have to work for it. We worked for it this weekend when we sat at the tables above to explore how to learn and adapt. Here are some of the things that made it easier to generate fresh thoughts for this fresh new year:

  • a structured process for thinking (that's what is contained in those handouts)
  • a connection to other people who are ready to work for a fresh start (all those chairs)
  • windows for observing what is real without being defined by it.
Our training room looks across traffic to a park. We always know what the weather is doing and we know how much natural light is available to lift our spirits. The windows ground us in what is real and assure us that what goes on in the room is also real. By acknowledging January, we are able to shift what it means: it's not cold and dark in our room. There's lots of movement and companionship and optimism inside and it's as real as the weather.

But no one landed in our room by accident. We have to choose fresh ideas and fresh energy. They don't come with the calendar.




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