04/01/2026
Natalie Picton Therapeutic Counselling
Morning everyone 🌸
If like me you are preparing yourselves to return to work or school tomorrow, go easy on yourselves today if you can.
The nerves have probably returned and it can feel like dread for some, that can be so difficult.
I love my work but I’m still nervously hoping I can show up fully after having my first full 2 weeks off since last Christmas.
The Monday dread feeling is awful but look for the simple joys in Sunday first, if at all possible. We have a sprinkling of snow here and it’s looking so pretty in the sun. I hope it’s gone by tomorrow though as I have driving lessons until early afternoon then counselling sessions later on.
Good luck for tomorrow 🙏🏻
For many, January is a hard, cold month…
When everyone is setting new goals, laying down righteous ground rules and striving to become a better version of themselves, some of us are fighting to find our feet each day...
You see, December is a month of giving, and some of us, come January, are completely and utterly spent.
A month of remembering everyone, and remembering absolutely everything.
A month of including everyone and of reaching out to each and every person we have ever known.
A month of reaching breaking point every day trying to have fun, to be the ultimate hostess, to be the perfect guest.
A month of stretching ourselves financially, emotionally and of letting our boundaries be breached by many... in the spirit of the season.
And then January hits and bam... before we can even begin the arduous task of clearing away the festivities, we are expected to jump on the ‘new year, new you’ bandwagon and transform ourselves entirely.
For some of us this is just too much.
January is the darkest and most depressing month of the year and for many sensitive souls, the barrage of ‘advice’ on how we ‘should’ be living, is just too much.
So perhaps this is a safe place to say that maybe it’s okay to take a week or two to recover and to just be kind to ourselves before demanding better.
And for those of us who really do fall low in the darkest month of the year. For those of us who have given too much and to whom the future looks bleak - perhaps this is the right place to say - you are absolutely fine the way you are. Just stay.
Take some time to breathe.
Take some time to not think about anything much at all except breathing in and breathing out.
Take some time to build back up, not tear your yourself down.
For many, this month is a mountain that looks unclimbable.
Be kind, my friends. Always.
Donna Ashworth
