Why September Can Feel Surprisingly Heavy
September feels heavy...
I was thinking about this the other day, and I wonder if anyone else notices it too.
Every January gets all the attention for being the season of fresh starts, but honestly, I think September might be the bigger reset.
All of a sudden we're back into routines, making lunches, trying to remember appointments, figuring out extracurriculars, getting back into work, and wondering how the house got messy again after we just cleaned it.
And I don't actually think it's all the busyness that makes September feel hard.
I think it's the pressure we quietly put on ourselves. Somewhere along the way, September became the month we're supposed to have everything figured out again. We tell ourselves we're going to be more organized this year. More patient. More productive. Better at meal planning. Better at keeping up with laundry. Better at saying no.
It's a lot.
Then, when we inevitably don't do all of those things perfectly, we wonder why we're feeling overwhelmed.
I don't know... maybe the problem isn't that we're failing. Maybe we're just expecting too much from ourselves all at once. I've noticed in counselling that people are often incredibly compassionate toward everyone else. If a friend was juggling work, kids, sports, aging parents, a relationship, and trying to look after themselves, we'd probably say, "Of course you're tired." For some reason, we rarely extend that same kindness to ourselves.
So if September has felt heavier than you expected, maybe before asking yourself, "Why can't I keep up?" ask yourself, "Am I expecting more from myself than I'd expect from anyone else?"
Sometimes that question changes everything.
Or another one that feels even more like something you'd send me:
I think September tricks us a little.
Not because anything terrible happens in September, but because it's one of those months that makes us feel like we should suddenly have our lives together.
Kids are back in school. Work feels busy again. Everyone seems to be getting back into routines, and somehow it feels like we should too.
The funny thing is, I don't think life actually gets easier in September. We just expect ourselves to handle more. And then we're surprised when we're tired. I see this every year in counselling. People come in wondering why they're feeling more anxious or more emotional all of a sudden, and honestly, it often makes perfect sense. They're carrying a lot.
I think we spend so much time asking ourselves, "How do I get back on track?"
Maybe a better question is, "What if this is just a season where I need to be a little gentler with myself?" September feels heavy sometimes.
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