It feels like the year just began, and here I was, thinking not-so-happy thoughts, feeling so low seeing yet another year pass by, and running through the last few days of the year trying to get done as much as I can.

I just can’t believe how time could be flying so fast. I remember my school days, when I used to wait for years to pass by, and every month (or should I say, week?) would seem as long as how I feel about a whole year in these recent years. Of course, the slow passage of days was not something I felt good about during those days, as there were things I was looking forward to in my distant future, which I could hardly wait to experience. Further, with every passing year, the thought of progressing to the next class of studies would bring happy thoughts of accomplishment. Preparing to become ready for a professional job seemed just the right motivation, and seeing the years pass by would only bring happy thoughts of getting closer to that goal. Those used to be the days when I would look forward to the years full of promises ahead, and wish that the years would go by much quicker.

As the curtains come down on this year, it dawns to me that the recent few years have not been ending on such a looking-forward-to-the-next-year note. Times have changed, and here I am at the peak of my career, already doing as good as I had dreamt of, if not better. However, the feeling of happiness in seeing the years rolling by seems to have vanished altogether. It is no longer a matter of waiting for some futuristic state of being, but rather a deep sense of thoughtfulness about the present – about what I am now, what I have been doing, and how would it be best for me to spend these precious years of my life. As time passes by and I see these precious years sneaking away into the past, I get these strange feelings of sadness within me. I call these the year end blues.

Year end blues can really sap you of all the excitement that you should rather be feeling while the New Year is just about to begin. Instead of going out partying and having fun, it has the potential to possibly make you drop into your seat and feel so depressed that instead of looking forward to the fun and frolic, you willingly choose to feel disappointed at the thought of not having accomplished much of what you could have in the year gone by. You could even go to the extent of punishing yourself for not having worked harder and made better use of your time. And let me tell you this – the human mind is quick on negative stimulus, and can amplify it to an uncontrollable extent if not brought under control soon using a little positive push.

As the year end blues were tightening their grip on me this year, I formalized my plan of getting over them quickly, based on my observations over the last few year-ends. No big deal, the plan is extremely simple and it goes as follows. Just walk down the memory lane of the year that is coming to an end, and think of all the good things that you did or which happened to you this year, things that you would like to remember over the years, and keep noting them down as and when they come to your mind. Remember, you should note down only the good things, none of those things that could bring back bitter memories and make you feel disappointed. Note down all good memories, small and big, whether it is a relaxing dinner you had with a friend, or whether you had your first sky diving experience, just about anything that you would feel good about having experienced or just even happened some place elsewhere. And as you jot down these points, something magical begins to happen. The mind races into the realm of goodness and comes up with so many good thoughts from the year, that you begin to feel amazed at the number of good things that actually happened to you, most of which you would usually take for granted if you had not actually taken the time to think of and put down in writing. And as the list begins to grow from a few entries to tens or may be even hundreds of them, you open up to the value that the year has added into your life and start feeling grateful for them all. And as you feel gratitude and happiness for all the good things that happened, the year-end blues just fade away and create a different kind of void that then gets filled with new hopes and inspiration for the New Year that is just around the corner.

If you are one of those who feel the year end blues like I do, I hope the simple means of getting over it, as outlined above, helps you get over your year end blues too!