The uphill struggle of January

The holidays are over and it is time to take down the tree, put away the Christmas ornaments and go back to normal.

For many of us it is twice as hard to start the new year, given that we don’t only come with the extra load of excessive spending in December, but the start of work is also slow and we have to struggle with the weather. Everything from the time we get up from the warm bed, shower, and warming up the car, is work that requires major effort. And unfortunately if it snowed, we have to clean the house entrance and the windows of the car. We have to go out well-wrapped so that we don’t suffer at work, even though this implies wearing so many layers of clothing that they limit mobility.

Another thing is fighting with seasonal sickness; everywhere we look we see red noses, tearful ears and there’s a concert of coughing ranging everywhere from simple to some that are truly worrisome.

It is said that the lack of natural sunlight during these short days produces depression, especially for those of us who come more from the South where we see very little of this phenomenon; but after all that we went through to get here, and how much we have to work, we don’t place a lot of importance on that.

In any case, we have to see all of this as “seasonal things” and move forward with our work and with our projects.

We are already in the second week of the new year and if we fail to fulfill our resolutions, it doesn’t matter, we still have time to re-embark down that road. The ‘Rosca de Reyes’ (Mexican traditional bread) is gone and there’s no excuse to not follow through with the diet (at least until the tamales from February 2nd). If you didn’t start your resolution or you failed, start again. Even the most experienced runners know that the first five minutes are the hardest ones, but once we get going, the rest is a matter of consistency; the same goes with any project that we begin: the hard part is the beginning, once on the road… the rest is easy!

Do it!