The new year is still very fresh and many of us still have the smell of their New Year's hangover in their house and in their curtains. We have settled in comfortably between the years and decided that time will stand still. But slowly, most of us pick up speed again and after the first few days, some daily routine finally returns. Especially at this time of year, when you don't want to get out of bed in the morning, it's important to have something to do. So that you can get rid of the blues which at the beginning of the year still holds on to your head and heart and get back into the swing of things.
I also felt the same way this week. At the beginning I didn't really know what to do with each new day. Especially the cold temperatures that prevail in most Japanese bedrooms are not really helpful to welcome a new morning with a smile and open arms. On the contrary, I prefer to pull my over my head as much as possible, and to stay in the warmth of my own bed for a few more hours. Fortunately, no alarm clock was ringing these days, at least not close enough for its intrusive sound to reach my ears through the various layers of blankets.
Although such a wake-up call might have been just the right thing to finally shake off my own lethargy and lick-my-ass mood. Sometimes it only works in a very commanding tone and with a firm kick in the butt, so that we finally understands that the time is now over in which we could let yourself go without fearing any consequences.
But as usual, no one is waiting for us this year, and those who don't get their act together will have to see where they end up. Only the hyenas are already waiting for those who have dropped out early and given up already in the first few days and weeks of the year. The grapes are hanging much higher these days and those who want to get to the top will have to make a greater effort and come up with something better than in previous years. We have been beaten up for months about the fact that times are getting icier, and those who have learned to freeze are possibly well prepared for what is now waiting for us. Perhaps it will help that with the end of autumn the temperatures in Japanese homes have dropped to a sometimes biting and painful level. I should be well prepared and attuned, and with this clear advantage, I should be able to march ahead.
Probably there will be nothing to win this year for most of us, and in the end we will be rather glad if we don't lose our minds in all the orchestrated madness out there. After all, maybe it's better to fight the still lingering hangover with a well-tested remedy that is also extraordinarily effective at making us forget the bitter reality. Let's just start drinking again!