This is a personal story about how I fell in love with the month of January. I know that may shock some of you—maybe even horrify a few—and leave many readers wondering how this could possibly be true.
Let me start by saying it wasn’t always this way. Like many of you, I struggled during the winter months. I loved the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the holiday season, only to feel let down by the anticlimactic month that followed.
January felt like a big blank space on the calendar of life. I constantly compared it to the excitement of December or the warmth and energy of July. Each comparison left me returning to January feeling cheated—bitter, even—that it wasn’t producing more. I white-knuckled my way through it, miserable and counting the days until February.
Shifting My Mindset
A few years ago, I decided to see if I could shift my mindset around this month. I chose to try something called Radical Acceptance to see if it might help. (Check out my blog post on this titled: Embracing Radical Acceptance.)
Simply put, Radical Acceptance means coming to terms with what is, even when you don’t like it. When we do this, we’re better able to see what is within our control and what isn’t—and, importantly, where change is actually possible.
This skill also requires abandoning the longing and wishful thinking that come from fighting reality. When we resist what is—wishing it were different or getting angry about it—we often end up feeling even more disappointed or drained.
Accepting January for What It Is
Truly accepting reality means taking an honest inventory of what’s in front of us and deciding what we can change and what we can’t. For me, that meant coming to terms with January as a slow-paced, cold, sometimes dreary month with an empty calendar and few social commitments.
I began by looking at what I liked and didn’t like about January. I didn’t like being cold or feeling cooped up inside. So, as simple as it sounds, I bought a pair of snow pants—and they completely changed my relationship with winter.
I started going for walks outside, even in the cold. To do that, though, I had to let go of the desire for warmer weather (which I can’t control) and focus instead on how I could prepare for the reality in front of me. Enter snow pants!
More movement meant more endorphins, and one small change led to another.
Finding Meaning in the Quiet
From there, I began to see January as a time for personal reflection, an opportunity to recharge, and a time to pursue hobbies or interests. (Check out my post on Reclaiming Hobbies During the Canadian Winter Months for Mental Health.)
A lighter social schedule meant more time to myself. Instead of viewing the month as empty or boring, I reframed it as abundant with time—time that I get to choose how to use.
I read more books, cook more meals at home, focus on professional development, and even learn new crafts like quilting. In the warmer months, these things often compete with other commitments. In January, there’s space for them that I am choosing to lean into.
In this process of shifting my mindset and the way I interacted with this month, January became my absolute favourite time of year in the way that other months and seasons are.
A Final Thought
In writing this, I’m not trying to convince you to live differently or to fall in love with January the way I have. What I do hope is that it encourages you to think about what your own “January” looks like in life—and how a little Radical Acceptance might help shift your experience of it.