31 proven ways to make January happier
January is so underrated. The quiet gloom, the relief that there are no more festive hurdles to negotiate, the peaceful lack of expectation. It is the high point of the annual calendar, a platform for the coming year. What’s not to love? And even if you hate it — because some people weirdly do — here are 31 thoughts and reflections from your fellow citizens on the joys of our least loved month. i go first
1 “This January, after years of practice, I am starting a nine-month yoga teacher training course. I couldn’t be more excited. I don’t make resolutions because why fail, but I always love to try something new in January. anything. One January I signed up to learn Arabic but I was hopeless.”
Suzanne (55), yoga fan
2 “I love getting up before everyone on New Year’s Day and running in the park at 9am. As a result, I’m feeling amazing all day and looking forward to an exciting new year ahead. I do this every Saturday in January.”
Michelle Rae (49), teacher
3 “I see January as a blank canvas, an opportunity to decide what I’m going to ‘paint’ this year.”
Alan Dolan (58), breathing guru
4 “I love swimming in the sea in January – it’s free, requires a lot of screeching and you feel bulletproof afterwards. You can make it a social thing with camp chairs, thermos flasks, blankets, sausages and hot water bottles.”
dr Clodagh Harrington (51), historian
5 “On January, I like to let go of everything that no longer serves me. I’m oddly looking forward to some physical, mental and metaphysical detox.”
Jodie Boyd (49), expert in natural skin care
6 “The joy of January is cleaning up the excesses of Christmas and having a clean slate for the New Year.”
Liz Dowdall (56), General Manager
7 “My January Joy is the story of a young man fleeing the war in Kosovo who finally found his true love in Kildare. Now, more than 20 years later, I get to marry her in a beautifully inclusive ceremony that reflects her love and culture with her families and friends – a truly happy life.”
Trisha Corcoran (54), Civil Celebrant
Vicinity
Trisha Corcoran, Civil Celebrant
8th “Janus is said to be the god of new beginnings and at 75 I’m excited to see the start of another year – so every January is a bonus!”
By Fitzgerald (75), university staff
9 “On New Year’s Eve I sit at my table with a candle and reflect on the past year. I have made it my goal to get better, especially in difficult relationships. I tell myself that I will be kinder and more tolerant of other people.”
Hazel Leonard (65), teacher
10 “The best thing about January for me is looking forward to the days getting longer and knowing that spring is just around the corner.”
Anne Keating (56), entrepreneur
11 “One of the hardest things I find about January is getting out of bed. So I’ve decided to give myself as many indulgent sleep-ins as I can. This requires comfortable pajamas, a hot water bottle, a cup of tea next to my bed and maybe my phone to scroll or a book that I can read for 20 minutes before I have to get up. It relaxes me in the dark January mornings and I find that if I start the day off right, the rest of the day goes well.”
Katy Harrington (42), Editor
12 “I love January because it offers me a reset button for my life, ambitions and projections. It is my personal NCT period where I redirect or re-fire and gather strength for another leg of life’s race.”
dr Ebun Joseph (52), Director, Institute of Antiracism & Black Studies
13 “My favorite time in January is to cut down the tree and put everything away.”
Pat Ryan (81), golfer
14 “For me, January is all about hope — that the new year will be what I expect it to be.”
John Byers (57), engineer
fifteen “I hate the cold, so in January I’ll grow my body hair like a yeti and eat all the carbs.”
Kay Leonard (24), caregiver
16 “I like January because it’s calm. December is always crazy. My husband and I work flat out on jobs that never end [healthcare and aviation] So we always go on holiday in January and go to Center Parcs. You get all the Christmas stuff without the crowds. Who cares if the kids miss a few days off school?”
Jill Fitzgerald (45), Director of Nursing
17 “We’re nerds, but here’s what we do. Ever since I met my soulmate, January has been full of opportunities. On New Year’s Eve we do a Burning Bowl Ceremony to release what no longer serves us and on New Year’s Day we take a day trip and talk about whatever we want to manifest this year. It’s our romantic reset!”
Jeanne Sullivan Bellici (55), relationship coach
Vicinity
Jeanne Sullivan Bellici, relationship coach, with partner Todd
18 “I try to start every year with a decent dip in the Atlantic. That feeling of smug contentment is hard to beat. These old wannabe Wim Hof swimmers (aka Christmas swimmers—pah!) come wrapped in their dressing gowns in January, gobbling up leftover roses and leaving the water clear for the real masochists. On January 1st we are on our way to give our bodies an attractive shade of blue. An added plus – there’s no better way to banish a hangover. I always feel hopeful in January. If I can survive the freezing water, anything is possible. It’s a clean, salty shale. Bring it on.”
Esther McCarthy (45), Editor
19 “I dedicate January to the sofa. After all the festive running around, I put my feet up and catch up on all the box sets, preferably alone. I try to do as little as possible and just load up. I love it.”
Mary Holmes (50), self-employed
20 “In January I start browsing seed catalogues. It’s not planting season, it’s planning season. There’s nothing I like better than sitting down with a cup of tea and my stacks of seed catalogues, looking at the pictures of flowers and vegetables and imagining what the garden might have in store for the year to come.”
Sonia Bell (55), artist
21 “The best thing about January is breaking all resolutions in about two weeks and doing a massive retox to blow away winter.”
Lola Ray (22), film production
22 “I love my job and in January I get the satisfaction of building up hours so I can afford trips and treats in February and March. I’m meeting up with friends who have been busy with family over Christmas. We already have two games in January where the pressure is off and we all have vouchers to spend.”
Marian O’Keeffe (68), University Administrator
23 “Cracking frost on the forest floor and breaking ice on puddles. So satisfying.”
Martin Price (54), musician
24 “After all the distractions, I’ll be able to get back to gardening in January. Gardening is an ongoing experiment. What worked well last summer might not work so well in the coming year. What am I guessing? With the changing climate I might try some plants suited to the warmer Mediterranean weather. Eggplant or fennel bulbs? Last year my neighbor’s grapes bloomed really well so I might plant a vine.”
Tom McNaughton (60), carpenter
25 “I love the sense of opportunity I feel in January. I have learned to recognize the cycles of nature and how they can be reflected in our own lives, with a time to slow down and go within, a time to plant seeds and plants and nurture and a Time to harvest for the year. In January, I try to take some time to reflect on what I’ve learned from the past 12 months and set some resolutions for the coming year. I go into the new year with determination but recognize the need to move slowly and rest.”
Pat Divilly (35), coach, podcaster and author
26 “The Christmas stress is finally over and I’m relieved to start with a fresh calendar. I love all those blank pages just waiting to be filled.”
Sarah Thorne (58), jewelry maker
27 “One benefit of age is that I don’t need New Year’s resolutions. I’m not giving up and I don’t need to improve – I’m done!”
Marianne Ryan (67), mountain hiker
28 “Like many people, I got sober in January after a last Christmas stroll a few years ago. So every January I celebrate my sobriety date and how much I love my life now, how much happier I am. It never gets old.”
Anonymous (39)
29 “Letting go of things. Bad Relationships – January is the time to let go and move forward. Even if it feels intimidating.”
Jackie O’Sullivan (23), student
30 “The possibility of snow.”
Zara (12), student
31 “Book a vacation during the January holiday sale! Brooding, reading, daydreaming about places. The joyful anticipation of it.”
Ruth Ryan (41), sunbather
https://www.independent.ie/life/31-tried-and-tested-ways-to-make-january-more-joyful-42249180.html 31 proven ways to make January happier