Holiday Rest
Holiday Season.
The winter holidays is a weird time for me. I think there's a run up of last minute productivity before everything shuts down but also a sense of reduced output and acceptance of reduced output. People start checking out, and there's a free pass to lack of productiveness....cause you know.....Christmas.
You can't be as productive because the services and organizations that you rely on aren't being productive or have closed down for the season and as a result, things are kinda forced to close unanimously. Banks close so business or financial catch-up can't happen. Classes or courses aren't offered. Things shut down.
In North America, Christmas holidays is a big thing. It's cultural. Everyone kinda accepts it, embraces it, looks forward to it. The gift giving, the big gatherings, the loud festivities. To top it off, Vancouver decided to give us a white Christmas this year - no gloomy warm wet rain but rather a white wonderland and the subsequent white-knuckle car pile-ups that ensue.
It's certainly a time for reflection, retrospection and gratitude for everything that has come before. Albeit bittersweet and at times soured by the covid restrictions and such, I think it's important to mentally focus on the things to be grateful for and the things that will invigorate me.
Now, I know that the pandemic has been a mental and emotional burden on us. Our lives have been upended, disrupted, blindsided and done so in a seemingly unending cycle now with the Omicron variant. There certainly is a lot to complain and be frustrated with this year but there's no point in focusing on that.
So what do I have to be grateful for this year?
I have my safety, my health, my home, and my family.
I am warm, I have the means to a nice warm meal, and I have the cognitive function to think, read, write, and communicate with the world publicly through this.
Sure, there are lots of things that could be going way better for me, but I have the basics, I'm happy and I have people I care about in my life surrounding me (even if they aren't physically around right now).
To me, the holidays are a time for recharging.
I don't need to drain myself to 0% in order to recharge and if there is some time to recharge now, it can be productive.
Recharging is productive.
Relaxing is productive.
Resting is productive.
So it's important to build that time and space for yourself to have those things.
Going HAM at a project without time to reflect, relax, and be with family is a short-term solution and for the longevity aspect, it's important to have a sense of productive consistency and longevity.
It is only when you have the time to relax, reflect, appreciate that you can understand your situation and be grateful for what you have.
Your situation may not always be the "best" or the "most", and certainly can feel insignificant when you compare to those who you've deemed "doing better" than yourself, but it's worth remember and comparing yourself to only yourself from earlier this year. It will truly give you that sense of gratitude because you only know your own story - you don't know where others started or how far they've come.
So try to enjoy the family time and relax with them. Spend time with them. Make memories with them. Rest is productive in giving you perspective. You gain perspective on why you work so hard, why you wish to accomplish more and how far you've already come!