5 JANUARY SILVER LININGS

I am a positive person.  Mostly.  Some might say annoyingly so.  For instance, when I want to lose weight I turn it into a competition with myself, app and all; when I want to save money I get enervated and begin religiously checking my bank balance every payday.  I just love that zing of achievement!  Therefore, I decided to put a happy spin on some common New Year grumbles for all you pessimists out there.

1. “I’m broke.”  Well of course you are!  And do you know why?  Because you have lots of friends and family on whom you could not resist showering Christmas gifts.  For a few weeks you will be feeling the fiscal pinch, but think of that smile which you put on a brother’s/sister’s/parent’s/granny’s face!  Priceless.
2. “There are no more lovely presents to look forward to.”  Well yes but what about actually using all the items you received for Christmas?  Surely your feet are far warmer than they were a month ago will all the socks you received from less imaginative relatives?  For me January is a time to indulge in gallons and tons of the fancy make-up and perfume I requested.  Not to mention DVD’s, CD’s and redeemed gift vouchers with which I can pleasantly fill my evenings.
3. “The weather is rubbish.”  It is an inescapable fact that Winter in the UK leans more towards wet and windy than magical snowfalls.  However, for every storm that batters our coastline and hairlines alike, we are one step closer to Spring.
4. “I’m looking a bit festively plump.”  I blame the lethal combination of my Dad’s cooking and Thornton’s chocolates for the unwanted poundage.  But as I just read in another blog, there are sooooooo many things which taste better than skinny feels!
5. “It will be at least nine months until I can realistically whack out my Christmas jumper again.”  My family have solved this by celebrating everything.  Last year we had a huge Independence Day BBQ… even though we’re British.  Same goes for Thanksgiving, both of the Queen’s Birthdays, The Equinox, St David’s Day, every Sunday… You get the idea.

January will never be my favourite month.  However, this means that it has absolutely no expectational pressure placed upon it’s underrated shoulders and therefore every impromptu bout of fun time is a bonus, and all the more enjoyable because of it.  So cheer up and find those January silver linings, people!  (And if you don’t spot any, it’ll be February before you know it.)