Dear Reader:

Don’t millions of Americans still recall last Saturday night ( well a few million might not remember-too much partying) all the excitement of bringing 2023 in as twelve strikes on the clock clang and January 1 officially began the New Year?

But within a few days… like now, we fickle humans have already turned January into our personal nemesis… blaming everything from diets already gone astray , exercising scratched from our daily goal to-do list, spending more time with family taken up by that one last drink after work before going home cave-in. The innocent month of January becomes our prodigal dumping bin for all our personal failures.

Over time poor January got so dumped on and blamed for humans’ personal resolutions gone astray… it now has the unfair title of being The Most Depressing Month of the Year. Or ” The Monday of Months.”

By now the whining starts with ” It’s so long, it’s so cold, it’s so financially tight… it’s so boring.”

It’s so long.” Well guess what… there are six more months just as long and no one complains about them… months like May or October ( our favorite month)

” It’s so cold” … seriously is that January’s fault? It’s like telling a baby in the womb they aren’t allowed to come in January because mom isn’t keen making the trip to hospital when it’s so cold and it’s just plain inconvenient.”

” Our checking account is so low… how are we going to make it?” Go look in the mirror and identify the person you see…as the one who completely, in bliss abandonment, way overspent the budgeted holiday amount.

” It’s so boring! ” Boring is as boring does. In my generation growing up ” telling adults you were ” bored ” got you in more trouble than bad language. ( though that was no picnic either.) “I still remember the time telling Grandmother we were bored one summer and before Ben, David or I knew what had happened we each had a rake cleaning out the two mules stables gagging at all the manure and then replacing fresh straw.

I remember Grandmother walking off chuckling… ” Never let it be said my grandchildren were ” bored” staying with me!” ” We can’t have that now… can we?” Very smart woman!

( I honestly don’t know how I survived from not being buried in the manure stables… if stares could kill… I was dead.” ) But… I also was never bored!!!

Starting out the New Year with a virus could have propelled me to sigh and blame January for a ” pity party” but January didn’t make me sick… a random virus did… and I have been beyond lucky not to have been sick before. What a blessed person I am!

I mustered up the emotional courage to start the sad process of taking off the ornaments and lights and Ruthie the Angel from the Christmas Tree. Ruthie got a longer reign than usual -she seems quite content now to return to her comfortable chair.

So until tomorrow… Come on… Give January a chance! Love it for ” What It Is”… time… life! ( Think about this…If once upon a time… on a normal day …if St Peter showed up and told us we would be making ” The Trip” – at the end of January with him … but if we wanted to skip January and go now we could … I have a sneaky feeling … most people would reply how much they love January and would be glad to wait… and be happy it has 31 days! ) 😂

PS I read that the third Monday in January has been dubbed ” Blue Monday” -the most Depressing Day of the Year! Knowing this I plan to wear red that day… and do something FUN !!!! Love you January!!!