April may be the cruelest month, but January feels like the longest.  That seems to be the way that some people feel, at least.  Maybe it’s because the end of December is more loosey-goosey and less defined and then the page turns to January and not even a mid-month holiday can help it’s thirty-one days feel like an unexpected trudge.

I’ll admit: it took me about three weeks to lose the shine of the joy from the Christmas holiday.  The latter half of this past week was rough on a couple of different levels.  Yesterday was a step in the right direction to “get it back,” but maybe that “shine” is really a holiday thing anyway.

A “long January” is the perfect reason for humility and grace when it comes to things like “new year’s resolutions.”  I like to think of it as a whole month to get your footing, because a good year is a long game.  And while I don’t have any particular resolutions, I do have habits and practices that I hope to get better at.

So this time next week we’ll be freshly into February.  But for now it’s January just a little bit longer.  And that’s okay.  Let the car warm up, do your stretches, get your ducks in a row.  2025 is just getting started.