September Is The New January

In the consultation is a podcast by the psychologist Ramón Soler for the magazine Mentesana. Listen to it and share it.

The calendar marks January as the start of the year, but really, on the Christmas holidays, sometimes with just a couple of holidays, we hardly have time to notice this temporary change.

We return to work and daily routines so quickly that we hardly realize that we are in a new year. Nothing seems to have changed, even many people (including myself) take a few weeks to get used to writing down the digit of the year that has just begun.

The importance of renewing in September

Actually, it is in summer when we can make a vacation break long and significant enough to start a real physical and mental reset. In these weeks of rest, our mind does have the necessary time to feel that, in truth, there is a change in the cycle.

In summer, the days are longer, they seem to stretch, which allows us to dedicate enough time to introspection. We have more hours of light to enjoy and share with our children, but also to reflect on our lives, on the goals that we want to set for the new year and the changes we want to introduce to meet them.

Even if you work in July or August, you will also have more occasions than during the course, to relax and give yourself the time necessary to start this healthy introspection.

In my work with the people who come to my office, we usually take advantage of the vacation break and the return to the routine that the month of September supposes, to review all the work done during the year and to set new challenges and objectives for the course beginning.

There is no pre-established script and each person decides what their changes will be. Sometimes, they are small details of everyday life, while, at other times, the changes will imply a radical turn in your life.

In any case, the most interesting thing about this work is based on the desire to want to renew ourselves to move forward in our lives. Taking advantage of the opportunity that summer offers us to reflect and start new projects is extremely positive for our lives. The examples are innumerable, but I have specifically wanted to bring three stories that may be representative of these changes.

Carmen’s case

In September of last year, Carmen started a course that she needed to advance her professional career. He had been putting it off for years, he always found the perfect excuse not to sign up. But just after summer break last year, she decided that it was time to complete her training and felt energized enough to successfully complete the course.

The case of María Jesús

Two years ago, María Jesús, after an unbearable weeks of vacation in a coastal town, decided to leave her husband. Her partner did not contribute anything to her, he abused her psychologically and, out of fear of change, the unknown and feeling alone, she had put up with him for too many years.

During vacation time that year, she could clearly see the contempt and lack of support she suffered from her husband (after several family arguments in which he was not on her side). At the end of the summer, when September came, María Jesús thought that it was better to be alone than in bad company and she gathered the necessary strength to leave him.

Carlos’s case

Another significant example may be that of Carlos, who in September several years ago finally accepted the promotion that his company had offered him on several occasions and that he had never decided to take because it implied a move to another country and also, of the one who did not know the language.

During the summer, Carlos analyzed the situation, considered the pros and cons, and realized that he wanted to change the environment and try the experience of working in another country. Also, to learn to handle a new language.

A momentous decision

As we can see, although they are different cases (some more pleasant than others), the common denominator of all of them is the making of a transcendental vital decision after the summer vacation break.

It is also curious that it is right at the end of the summer when I receive the most calls and requests for therapy. Many people put off this decision for months, even years, but this change in the cycle, after the summer break, helps them take the step of starting a process of introspection and self-knowledge.

The above cases are examples of how September really is a much more significant transition than New Year’s Day. And just now that we start this new course and new year of the blog, I wanted to propose that you reflect on those things that you need to change in your life. Consider what goals or challenges you want to achieve and what you need to implement them. Once decided, take a breath, take advantage of the newly recharged energies and go for them.