Column: Christmas hangover

What a Christmas it has been… I think everyone struggled with the events of last year in one way or another, even during the holidays. Now more than ever, it was a year of extremes. Some people flourished, while others watched their lives growing smaller and smaller.

Some felt lonely, while others made new friends and discovered new things in their lives. And I imagine that’s what Christmas looked like as well; a Christmas of extremes. Especially now, when everything is so unsure and unknown, what’s important is looking for the things you have, the things you are sure about. Things that you are grateful for.

Find gratitude in everything that you have instead of complaining about what’s missing and what’s different than before. It is what it is. Everything that happened happened. And what is still to come is something that you can’t be too sure about either. Insecurity is one of those things people find difficult to bear. Insecurity means that you have to give up some of your control. And oh, having a certain amount of control feels so good.

So that’s your challenge for today and for the time that’s coming: be aware of what you have, be grateful for who you are. Gratitude is so grand, so loving. It can feel like such a challenge, especially if you feel like there is much to complain about. But complaining rarely helps. Gratitude on the other hand… Gratitude for love for example.

Be grateful for the ones you got to share your Christmas with. Be grateful for the one who’s lying next to you in bed. Be grateful for your children, even when it means you don’t have enough time for yourself. Be grateful for your own body, for your smile, for the strength you feel to make something of your life. Be grateful for all forms of intimacy you are familiar with, with your partner, with yourself, but also with kind strangers you meet on the street. It doesn’t cost you anything and you gain so much.

This coming year, Pabo will take you on a journey of gratitude, awareness, sexuality, and relationships. These four concepts are inevitably intertwined and they reinforce each other. I honestly believe that everybody deserves to be intensely happy, to feel love, and to be grateful. But you are the one who has to believe you deserve it as well.