January is traditionally a time for making plans, resolutions and revving into high gear for the new year ahead. For many of us, the holidays are a stressful time versus a restful time, and for many military families there can be complex nuances during this time depending on deployment status. Additionally, PCS season is right around the corner. Yet, this time of year we often ask ourselves to speed up even though in nature, winter is usually a time for slowing down and hibernating.
This January, what would it look like to slow down? What if instead of requiring more and more energy to keep up with resolutions and plans, we instead turned inward and gave ourselves permission to rest?
This time can be used to reflect on the last year. What worked well for us? What would we like to change and do differently? What is truly important to us and how can we make time and space for the people and things that really matter? January is a great time to settle, quiet our minds and listen to our intuition about how we want the upcoming year to look, and how our military life impacts our plans.
As the winter moves on and we have a firm understanding of what we want in the upcoming year, February can be devoted to making concrete plans, setting intentions, reviewing boundaries and how to implement them. We are still resting, still reflecting, still in a hibernation of sorts but we are now, slowly, moving toward the newness of spring.
As the days grow longer and we prepare for spring, we put our plans into action. We may stick to our plans longer, having taken the time to rest and reflect. We may have a new understanding of what is truly important to us. And we will be ready for the business of spring and summer.
