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This article was originally published here.
We often treat this week like filler. Like it’s just an awkward waiting room before the real work of self-improvement begins.
Christmas is over.
The New Year hasn’t started yet.
The calendar feels fake.
Time feels bendy.
And instead of acknowledging it, we mostly just… rush through it.
Scroll more. Snack aimlessly. Start ‘thinking about goals.’
Pretend this week doesn’t really count.
But psychologically and spiritually, this week is critical for your nervous system.
It’s the moment after the adrenaline drops.
After the expectations lift and the noise dies down.
And your system finally realizes ‘Oh. I can breathe now...’
That’s not laziness - THAT’s biology.
Why You Feel Weird Right Now
This week feels strange because the intensity shuts off all at once.
December is full of:
emotional highs
social demand
spending pressure
disrupted routines
nostalgia layered with obligation
Then suddenly… nothing.
No events. No lights. No next thing to prepare for.
Of course it feels disorienting.
Your body and brain are recalibrating after weeks of being ‘on.’
And instead of letting that happen, we usually panic and start planning.
Bad timing.
We Ask Too Much of January - and not enough of this week
Here’s the quiet mistake most people make:
They skip this week - and ask January to do all the work instead.
So January becomes responsible for far too much:
reflection AND motivation
clarity AND renewal
direction AND discipline
Which is wild, since for many (especially in the northern hemisphere) January shows up cold, dark, and emotionally underfunded.
This week is where integration happens, and if you skip integration, action in January feels heavy.
That’s not a mindset issue… that’s cause and effect.
You Don’t Need to Figure Anything Out Yet
Let’s be clear, this week, you nervous system is NOT asking you to:
decide your goals
pick a word for the year
outline your five-year plan
reinvent yourself
It’s asking you to settle down and decompress from December.
To notice what you’re carrying.
To let your nervous system settle.
To tell the truth - quietly - about what actually worked and what didn’t.
No performance required.
No productivity points awarded.
Stillness Is Not a Waste of Time
We’re so uncomfortable with stillness that we label it unproductive.
But stillness is where:
clarity surfaces
honesty gets a word in
pressure dissolves
alignment starts forming
Not loudly.
Not in bullet points, vision boards or to-do lists,
but in that subtle ‘oh… that makes sense’ way.
If you rush past this, you don’t get extra credit,
you just carry unresolved stuff straight into January.
This Week Is a Threshold - Not a Void
In Scripture, change almost never happens at the finish line or the starting line.
It happens in the in-between.
The pause… The wilderness…
The quiet obedience moments no one sees.
This week holds that same energy.
It’s a threshold, and thresholds are meant to be crossed slowly.
So just let this week do its job.
You don’t need to force it to be meaningful, because it already is.
You just need to stop drowning it out.
Rest more than feels necessary.
Think less and give your mind a break..
Let your body catch up to your calendar.
Because the clarity everyone tries to force in January?
It usually shows up right here - when you stop rushing past yourself, and instead refocus to…
Live your life on purpose!
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Great post! You haven't seen a story like this before, because no one has pointed out the real opportunity of the week between Christmas and New Year's before. All the energy is focused on the new year, the resolutions. I'd like to see as much attention on this week as the rest of the year. As Melody's story points out, this is when we refuel and have the rare space to find clarity and direction we can't find when we return to the craziness.
Totally true: clarity comes after rest. For me it used to be twice a year. Summer holidays and indeed the stillness after Christmas until January 4 or 5th. If I did it correctly I would feel so much more able to enter the new half year, clear on what needs to be done.