As the year rushes to a close, most of us feel an array of feelings and emotions. The festive season brings with it cheer and family closeness. The holiday season brings with it travel and adventure. The New Year brings with it hope. But not all feelings triggered at this time of the year are positive and happy. And while everyone around you might be happy and excited, it is okay to not be okay.
It is okay if you are not feeling your best.
It is okay if you are not feeling excited about the holidays.
It is okay if you feel lost.
It is okay if you feel like you haven’t accomplished much this year.
It is okay if you aren’t excited about 2023.
It is okay if you’re scared that the festivities will trigger your ED.
It is okay if you’re sad that you’re alone during this happy time.
It is okay if you feel like life isn’t where you thought it would be.
It is okay to feel sad sometimes in the middle of all the festivities.
I really don’t feel excited about 2023. It saddens me that I had to say goodbye to so many people in 2022. I lost my grandfather and grandmom to death. I lost my best friend to life. I lost someone that I potentially felt something for. I also feel like I didn’t accomplish much this year. It is also wedding season so seeing all these happy couples all over Instagram is reminding me that another year has passed and I still haven’t found the love of my life. It scares me that I need to start over in 2023. It scares me that I need to do it all over again. So while I love Christmas and this season, I also feel dread, the dread of having wasted another year of my life.
But it is okay to feel all of these things. Movies, shows, and social media portray this time of the year as one jolly fest which it isn’t for a lot of people. While I am happy and excited and planning Christmasy stuff, there still are moments when I feel sad. But it is also helpful to assess what is making you sad and to work towards changing that so that next year at this time, you aren’t feeling the same things.
Things I am working on:
- Taking care of my health by working out and eating right (reducing takeout)
- Waking up early and starting off my day early
- Reducing my screen time (phone+laptop)
- Getting help at work so that I can accomplish more in 2023
- Planning 2023 travel (travelling keeps me sane)
- Going out more and spend less time locked up in my room
- Meet more people – meet friends, go on dates
- Making plans so that I have something to look forward to and be excited about
- Spending way less time on social media
- Taking up new projects, trying things I have always wanted to instead of postponing them
- Make lesser plans but doable ones (a long to-do makes me anxious and makes me procrastinate more)
- Blog more
All of these are already in the works and I am hoping to start 2023 with less dread and more positivity. Cheers, to accomplishing FAR more in 2023. I am going to be happier, healthier and more successful this coming year!
How are you feeling this festive season? Are there any habits you are working to inculcate now instead of starting on January 1st?
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I’m sorry that you had a difficult year. That being said, I love how raw and real your blog post is and it speaks to me. I too feel similarly, as I am dreading 2023 and feel like I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to. It sounds like you have a really solid plan in place for the New Year. Let’s make 2023 our best year yet!
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Yessss! To owning our stories in 2023 and making it our best year yet! 😀
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Cheers to that! 🥂💁♀️
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What a wonderful post. I’m working on a lot with myself right now as well and it often feels like an uphill battle. You just have to take it one day at a time.
Best of luck meeting all of your goals. ❤️
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Definitely. I keep telling myself that 6 months later, I will thank myself for doing the work now. Good luck to you too! Here’s to an amazing 2023 where we reap the benefits of all our work! ❤
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Pulling yourself up from loss (and/or trauma) is challenging. It also takes a lot of time to heal. What I love about this post is that you acknowledge the sadness (versus what I use to do, which was ignore it) and plan to challenge it with specific intentions for the new year. Sounds like you are right on track for making 2023 a better year than 2022! Wishing you many blessings!
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I’m sorry about the people you lost in 2022. And I know what you mean about feeling like you didn’t accomplish much this year because I was sort of feeling that way too. But then my therapist suggested I make a list of everything I did accomplish and it was actually much more than I expected. Have an amazing 2023!
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One day at a time. That’s how we live our lives most of the days of the year, yet at the end of a calendar year, we tend to get very introspective, moody, withdrawn, or just plain depressed over the negatives we have experienced, yet on the other normal days, we’re working on doing our best to just keep going.
I have been looking at how the end of the calendar year seems to upend the healthier patterns we have laid into our lives, and how we start to question ourselves at this time, when other days we’re trucking along quite well in the choices we make for ourselves.
If we have been slowly implementing healthier choices into our lives, why are we questioning ourselves now? Are we not trusting the process?
This time of year seems to place a lot of unspoken expectations on people, many (or most) are based on the mythology of the season, and have nothing to do with our own reality! This may not be the best time to make huge life-changing decisions if we’re feeling deeply affected emotionally by these myths and expectations. Instead, when the hype calms down and we’re back into our normal lives, that’s a better time to re-examine life choices!
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i feel gay to day
happy that is
manic
do not panic
good post
thanks to jost!
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I talked to a counsellor who worked on a crisis line and he said that calls are at their highest this time of year. I’m glad there’s a movement of validating people’s feelings even at a season that’s supposed to be happy. I like your goals though. I hope they make you feel better
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You’re right… I’ve also come across an article, someone from the medical field said that mental health is really challenged this year. We can expect with the holidays to see a number of people turning to counselors. Here’s hoping 2023 will bring some peace of mind to us all.
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While Christmas is a joyous time for many, there will always be those that have had losses that feel worse when they observe happy people among those around them. I wouldn’t describe it as jealousy or envy; it’s more the feeling of regret to be sharing those same things.
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A lot of hugs, Moksha. You’re right, it is okay and all the best with everything you are working on. Take it easy.
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This year has been not so good to me also, but I would rather appreciate the challenges coz they made me strong, expanded my consciousness and taught me life lessons.
I like the way you acknowledge your feelings and how you are being ready to make necessary changes. It’s so tough when you loose people close to you but we all are gonna go one day. So let’s try to make the most of it while we are still alive. I wish you a happy new beginning ✨ 😊. By the way your change list is so superb 👌
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I am sorry you had such a difficult year, but I know that you haven’t wasted a year of your life. It is a year where you grew and where you learnt, even though it was sometimes through hardships. Thank you for your reminders and I hope 2023 will bring loads of happiness and love (whatever kind) your way!
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I’ve seen many trends with the new year from making new years resolutions (more tradition than trend) and writing a letter to yourself and dating it January 2024 and “reflecting back on year 2023” as if things had already happened.. I guess writing what you want to happen in 2023… I toyed with that idea for a bit… for me, my first thing I’m going to put on my list is to take a break… I’m not sure what form that will take but I know a break in my future is definite!! I hope you start feeling better in every way! I really think less social media will do you plenty of good, I cut out social media for almost 5/6 years now and I’ve never looked back… I just make sure to stay connected to those I value in my life often by other means 🙂
All the very best in 2023!!
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