(Previously Published on Mrs Words Blog)

So, it’s a new year! All the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is over, all the decorations have been packed away (and the house looks kind of empty), the special table settings are back in their buffet, the alcohol has all been consumed, the sumptuous food and delicacies have all been eating (and now the cupboards are bare), the Christmas DVD’s have been relegated to the back of the shelf and the Christmas outfits hung in the back of the wardrobe – all ready for the next Christmas season to come around.

I don’t know about you, but I feel kind of empty and a little bit useless once the holiday season is over. It’s almost a sense of loss when all the special things are gone and I feel like I am floundering for a little bit.

Then, I read all the blogs and emails encouraging me to ‘make this the best year yet!’ and listen to the sermons about ‘new year, new page, new chapter’ and all those hopeful, exciting, encouraging things – and to be honest, this year, I’m just not feeling it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am excited about this year and I am encouraged and hopeful that this will be the best year yet. I do want to make great choices for the future and dream again and be the best version of me that I can be. I do want all that, I’m just taking a moment to wallow a little bit – if that’s okay with you?!?

You see, I want Christmas to last all year. I want the generosity, the wide-eyed excitement, the celebration to be evident in the everyday.

I want to have an excuse to dress up, use the special china, have people over, eat feasts, to give and receive gifts and to sing together every weekend.

In the monotonous and mundane of everyday life, I want to be able to watch fireworks, listen to free concerts, picnic with all my faves and just be!

Why can’t we? Why does the time passing and the season ending mean that we have to stop doing all those fun things?

Ecclesiastes 3:22 (The Message) tells us to enjoy our life:

‘So I made up my mind that there’s nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do – that’s our lot. Who knows if there’s anything else to life?’

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (NIV) also tells us that ‘there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens;‘

So, I guess I better just stop wallowing and pull up my big girl pants and get on with it. We can’t always have party season. Most of us have school or jobs to attend, children to bring up, bills to pay.

But in the mundane of life, I believe that we can make each moment, each day, each weekend special. We can enjoy life!

There may not be a reason to bring out the special china dishes and invite some friends over and have a feast; there may not be a reason to dress-up and party; there may not be a reason to give someone a gift or send someone a card; but I say, why not?!

We don’t need a reason to bless someone or say an encouraging word; we don’t need a reason to keep party lights up and turn the music on so we can sing at the top of our lungs and dance the night away; we don’t need an excuse to celebrate, to be joyful, to laugh with friends; we don’t need a reason, let just do it!

I choose to make this entire year my Christmas season. That’s right! I am going to celebrate all year round. I’m going to do all those special, fun things that we only usually save for Christmas time and I’m going to live life to the fullest this year. What about you?

2017 – Let’s do this!