Teresa Garratty: 4 tips for surviving January! (with cartoons)

It’s January, so first of all, congratulate yourself for surviving the Christmas break!

But that also means it’s back to school/work for many of us, maybe both if you’re a student who works part time. A lot of us deafies are freelancers, so some of us are in that weird “at work but at the same time not” phase. There’s a word for it…ah yes, it’s called…

I am of course, being dramatic. Life does indeed go on but for some reason, it seems easy to get kind of blue over January, hence the term “January Blues”.

It’s important to stay positive and apparently, posting self deprecating memes all over social media is not the way to do that. (Thanks for the tip mum!)

I’ve had a little google and these seem to be the best/least ridiculous ways of cultivating positivity, you can thank me later.

1. Seek out positive people

Try to interact with positive people as much as you can.

Look for people in your life who support your choices and lifestyles and chat with them. Notice those who have overcome difficulties and try to spend time with them.

When we socialise we tend to pick up the traits and attributes of others, so if you’re surrounded by positive family or friends it will hopefully rub off on you eventually. I can personally vouch for this one!

I spent my new years break with a lovely bunch of people who were laid back, up beat and caring which sure enough made me equally laid back, up beat and caring. So much so that I’ve been invited to “come back and stay whenever” I like…

2. Think positive

Apparently, negative thinking is a bad habit.

It’s just something you get used to and after a while, you do it on auto pilot. In extreme cases you may even seek out negative things just because that’s what you were expecting to happen anyway.

Don’t dwell on this though, like all bad habits you can work on it. To break a bad habit, the most productive thing to do is replace it with a good one, so why not work towards replacing negative thinking, with positive thinking?

Of course that’s easier said than done but there are lots of tips online, just a google away. You could try keeping a journal of positive things that happen in your day and what positive attributes you used to achieve them.

You don’t even have to write them down if that’s not your thing, but get into the HABIT of pondering on this at least once a day. It will probably take some time to cement in and you might still get days/weeks when you’re on a downer but when you practice your positive habits, you’re taking control of the plane and steering it back onto a better path.

3. Be grateful for the good things

Here’s the part where you thank me…just kidding! This is more about deciding where you place your focus.

Thinking is tricky and simply telling yourself to stop being negative or be more positive doesn’t work. It only puts the focus on things you don’t want, things you don’t have and before you know it you’re bummed out because that’s all you’ve thought of.

The best way to avoid this trap is to make a quick list (written or mental) of 3-5 things you’re grateful for, hopefully you’ll shift your focus from the “don’t wants” to the “do haves” which will then lead on to getting more of what you want from life.

4. Be kind to yourself

This one seems obvious but can be hard to keep on top of. It’s really easy to put pressure on yourself, tell yourself you’re not good enough, that you’re doing it wrong or should be better in some way.

That’s especially true if it’s something you’ve heard from your loved ones who think they’re teaching you some kind of valuable life lesson. They’re not. They’re just reinforcing the negativity that we’re trying to avoid.

Think of it like sports coaching, which coach is gonna nurture you more? Which one is more likely to help you succeed?

Notice that the good coach isn’t telling you to forget it and let someone else do all the work, they don’t want you to quit, they want you to win but they encourage you with kindness.

I’m a firm believer that “gentle support” goes a lot further than “tough love”. So try to seek out your inner good coach and hire that one…not the bad one!

I think that’s probably enough to keep you going through the January hiatus and like I said, there’s a tone of this stuff online if you want to look into it further. While you’re doing that, I’ll be posting hilarious, yet POSITIVE memes.

Have a great 2019 everyone!

Read more of Teresa’s posts (with cartoons!) by clicking here.

Teresa is a freelance film maker, photographer and full time cynic. At school, she was voted “Most likely to end up in a lunatic asylum”, a fate which has thus far been avoided. Her pet hates are telephones, intercoms and all living things. Follow her on Twitter as @TGarratty