January can bring me down. How about you? Sure, the days are a bit longer, but it still gets dark pretty early, and it’s either cold or wet out. I do enjoy living where I can experience the seasons, but winter just isn’t my favorite.

It also seems to be a time when our family’s income decreases, and costs like heating fuel increase.

The exciting new energies of starting another year come up against the body’s desire to hunker down and hibernate.

The crazy weather cancels events left and right.

Sounds like a recipe for depression and anxiety, right?

This year, though, one of my intentions is to go with the flow. When I’m feeling low, I either allow for more rest (that hibernating thing), or coax myself to do something creative. Once I get started, most often I get caught up in what I’m doing and that lifts my spirits.

What do you do, though, when those around you are feeling anxious or out of sorts? It’s natural to want to help, and sometimes you can’t. Or perhaps, like me, you’re an empath, and the emotions swirling around you tend to get absorbed and felt as if they are your own.

Whether it’s your own upset or that of a loved one, I’ve found that it helps to keep your focus on the big picture. In life, change is the only constant. That means that things won’t always be the same. Whatever problems are challenging your right now, things will shift. Even if you don’t do anything.

A while ago, Quester was feeling upset about some financial challenges. My advice to him was, “it’s perfectly okay to feel desperate. Just don’t take action from that space.” When we forcefully push against resistance and try to force a situation to go in the direction we choose, it can often rebound. I’ve learned that it’s better to feel the emotions, process them, let them flow through us, and then look for inspired action.

Inspired action, taken from a centered, grounded space, is much more effective. When you’re aligned with your deeper purpose and can see the bigger picture, you’re much more likely to  make choices that take you in the right direction. And by “right,” I mean the direction that is best for you, right now.

Keep the faith. You’re on the right track. You’ve got this. Even here in the depths of your soul’s winter.