This is the time of year when many of us are inundated with a call to “finish the year strong.”
A time when we will be pressured by businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurial gurus to race to the finish line. Social media posts will bombard us with how many days of the year are left, year-end discounts, constant promotions, and posts about how much we’ve grown before the year is even over.
But rushing into the new year doesn’t guarantee a fresh start. Sometimes, it just carries our burnout into January.
Yes, we know. January is not the start of a New Year. Anyone who has done the tiniest bit of research knows that a real new year starts in the spring, when everything is reborn, not in the dead of winter. Stay with me tho.
We’ve all experienced or witnessed the last-minute scramble of trying to summarize the year without fully processing it: trying to complete a weight loss program, write a book, or achieve financial goals in just 10 days. Office parties, school events, family gatherings, all crammed together to see who can win the most before January first.
It can feel like we’re running from something. Perhaps a feeling of not having done “enough,” maybe comparison, and maybe the belief that value is measured by productivity.
It’s already happening with Black Friday sales. As you may have noticed, I rarely have one. I have nothing against them, and I am sure I’ll have something special in the future. Maybe even next year. But for now, it just all feels so exhausting.
I’M TIRED YA’LL.
If you are also tired, remember there is nothing wrong with slowing down at a time when everyone is speeding up. If you are a nature person like me, you know nothing blooms all year long. We were born from the Earth, yet we move opposite to it.
While humans rush to prove their year was meaningful to other flawed humans, nature is slowing down for the winter months. Animals are hibernating, finding ways to escape the cold, and trees have shed their leaves, with plants stopping growth to conserve energy. Even the soil rests, with nutrients being regenerated under frost and snow.
Meanwhile, my neighbor blows his leaves every morning. Poor thing. I want so badly to tell him they are just going to fall again. Let them leaves alone. They are doing what they are supposed to do and helping the soil in the process.
On this side of the Earth, humans accelerate and accomplish as much as possible before the final countdown. But for other living things?
For them, this is a period of rest and preparation for spring.
Slowing down isn’t about doing nothing. It’s about doing what matters with intention.
When we slow down, we reclaim time.
We notice the beauty in ordinary moments, and we greet the “new year” with clarity rather than exhaustion.
Instead of rushing to create a version of ourselves that looks good on paper, we can walk grounded, nourished, and whole.
The end of the year is not a deadline.
It’s a doorway.
Walk through it gently.
The PBS Blog 