Chaplain's Chat

Where did January go?  We are already in the second month of a new year, school has started and most of us are back at work or settling into the routine of everyday life.

Did you have a relaxing holiday?  You may have spent sun – filled days at the beach or river, caught up on sleep with much needed lazy mornings and enjoyed fun times with family and friends.  After a couple of weeks free of the humdrum of daily life, surely you should be feeling relaxed, with your batteries recharged ready for another year.

That’s when PHD can hit. For the initiated, that’s Post Holiday Depression.  According to a recent survey by the University of Manchester in the UK, 76% of employees reported that their stress levels were back to pre-holiday highs within a week of returning to work. Not surprisingly, the Monday morning after a holiday was a time of ‘greater depression’ for most employees. 

Symptoms include finding it difficult to concentrate, feeling restless, stressed and having trouble engaging with your work. Others are so depressed at the thought of waiting months before they can go on leave again that they book their next holiday as soon as possible.  The survey found that almost 75% of women and 60% of men, said they felt more motivated to work when they had a holiday to look forward to.

The bad news is, though, that holidays must come to an end. The good news is that PHD is usually short lived while you make the transition from relaxed holiday mode to busy normality.

Ultimately, you should come back from holidays with a full tank of energy and enthusiasm and be ready to go.  It’s about learning to focus on the positive. I think another helpful tool is learning to live in the present and to practice mindfulness.  If we live in the moment and enjoy today, no matter what it brings, this will help us to develop a better attitude. Incorporating an enjoyable activity into your week – such as a family movie night, take-away or even taking time for a bath – can help avoid the ‘blues’ from settling in. 

Developing an attitude of gratitude can also be helpful. Negativity and gratitude are unable to co-exist, so learning to be grateful for even the simple things of life is a positive practice to develop.

I’m reminded of the different seasons of life and how change can be difficult. I have to be honest, I’m not one who finds change easy. I like what is comfortable and familiar.  So when my children and grand-daughter who live in Ballarat began to put some pressure on me to move up to be near them, I was nervous about what that would mean and all the changes that would have to be made to make that possible. So, after much thought and prayer, I have chosen that it is best for me to be near my family and enter into a new season of my life up in Ballarat.  I will be sad to leave this amazing school family that I have grown to love and hold very dear to my heart I’m not going to get into the reflections of my last 16 years at Woori Yallock Primary School in this newsletter.  I will save that for my last school newsletter article.  I will still be your chaplain until March 31st.