January is the season of resolutions.  I have heard many accounts of new exercise routines, the latest diets, closet purges, home renovations, and even decisions to go to bed earlier. I also know that by mid-January, many of these proudly professed measures of self-improvement will be abandoned (until next year).

Inspired by fresh calendars, many people hope to turn fresh pages in terms of their physical, environmental and spiritual habits. (I suspect that, after the hustle and bustle of Advent and Christmas preparations and activities, many need something to occupy their minds during the “blue” period of January and February.)

Some people become depressed during the holidays due to stress, loneliness and loss, financial challenges or sad memories. Others enjoy excitement and good times at Christmas, only to fall into despair when loved ones leave their homes and the effects of too many pieces of gingerbread linger on their thighs.

Whatever the reason or the timing, I think most people have some experience with low moments during the dark months of winter. New Year’s resolutions can help people cope during times of difficulty by creating energy and an alternative focus. The strong feelings of pre- or post-Christmas depression have the potential to transform into positive energy. We cannot change others, and we often cannot change our circumstances; however, it is empowering to realize that we have a chance – and even a choice – to make changes in our attitudes and our lives. The year has nothing written on it, so why not opt to make it a year of positives?

As I said, many New Year’s resolutions only last a few days, or hours, depending on their natures. For some this admission invokes laughter. For others, rather than helping them abandon a winter slump, the notion of failure has the risk of augmenting a person’s feelings of discouragement.

No matter how we look at it, January and February can be overwhelming. Depression during days with less light is a proven clinical condition. Depression on the heels of times of great anticipation is common. Those who have trouble following through with efforts to overcome their personal weaknesses can feel alone and unmotivated, as social media explodes with stories of those who seem to experience success in their resolutions. 

Following Christmas, the New Year can feel barren and cold in every sense. Although Lent is a Catholic’s symbolic “desert,” January and February are perhaps the closest many people come to experiencing their own genuine, personal deserts.

In the first week of this new year, the Gospel reading told of John the Baptist identifying himself as “the voice of one crying out in the desert” (John 1:23). Bishop Robert Barron reflects on the fact that “the great heroes of Biblical revelation have to spend time in the desert: Abraham, John the Baptist, Paul. Even Jesus Himself spends 40 days and nights in the desert before commencing His ministry.”

Bishop Barron goes on to describe the fact that each of these Biblical figures waited “through a painful time” before reaping the benefits of their deserts. The desert image can symbolize anything from seeing our own weakness or “dark side” to “a deep realization of one’s dependency upon God” or “an ordering of the priorities in one’s life.”

The Bible reminds us that, even though the “deserts” of life are difficult, overwhelming and often demeaning, they are necessary for our personal growth and for the development of our relationships with God and with each other.

Whether we make formal New Year’s resolutions or not, we are all called to resolve to wait and listen for the voice crying out in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3). We must resolve to look within ourselves, to nurture the personal qualities which make us proud, and to accept the challenge of improving upon our weaknesses.

As Bishop Barron reminds us, the Bible figures are “compelled to wait, during a time and in a place where very little life seems to be on offer. But it is precisely in such deserts that the flowers bloom.”

I resolve to embrace the deserts of 2017, and to search for the flowers God has planted there just for me.