After Christmas doldrums. I get em’. Not usually this soon after Christmas, but here I am already. Not quite depression, just the feeling of being low on the happiness scale.
Doldrums is a funny word. I wondered… what is the true definition and where did the term even come from, so I looked it up.
Doldrums:
- A period of depression, listlessness, or inactivity
- A state of bafflement or quandary
- A nautical term for the area around the equator where sailing ships can get stuck in windless waters
And that’s exactly where I am. A little low (depression, listlessness, inactivity) and wondering what to do (quandary) now that the rush of the Christmas season is over. Stuck in the “windless waters” of a cloudy overcast winter.
It’s easy at Christmastime to get caught up in the hurry and noise of the holiday. All the cares of everyday are put on the shelf to make room for decorating, baking, shopping and gift wrapping. But after the party is over, and all the people wave goodbye, you clean up the joyful mess. Empty plates, sprinkled cookie crumbs, and wrinkled up wrapping paper fill the space. The same stuff that you purposefully pushed aside for happier thoughts soon comes rushing back in to fill the void. And so it has for me. I am like a ship in windless waters today.
I had a nice Christmas, I truly did, but I had expectations that were not met. Expectations that I pushed aside over and over. Now I need to take those pushed aside thoughts down from the shelf and deal with them. But here I sit in my ship christened “Doldrums” wishing for the wind to kick up. I want it to blow me out of the still sea to one of those island paradise vacation spots. But that’s only a temporary fix, and it’s not how it’s going to go.
What’s going to happen is I will take a deep breath and dive into the sea. I will be okay because the one who made the sea will swim with me in the calm waters. He wants me to swim there with him and workout the things that are swirling around in my heart and mind. At first the temperature will be a shock, but soon I will get used to the cool refreshing water. It gets a little scary swimming around in the deep, but I know that I have the best life guard anyone could ever want. After a good long swim I’ll climb back in the boat, tired, but somehow refreshed at the same time. Swimming with the Most Faithful Lifeguard. It’s good exercise.
What about you? Did you get everything your heart desired for Christmas? Do we even realize our deepest desires? I don’t think so, not mostly. Have the doldrums come early for you? If so, join me in the refreshing waters of Jesus’ calming love. Maybe it will be your first swim, or like me, so many swims you’ve lost count. No matter…
…Dive in.