“Everyone is cranky at the moment!”
That’s what we’ve been saying in our house this week. It seems patience is just a bit thinner and fuses just a bit shorter than usual.
I was looking up the ACT Government Health site to see if the Covid health advice had changed (it remains the same; see below for details*) but on their “Be well this winter” page, I came across this advice: “Take steps to maintain your physical and mental health over the winter months – stay active, eat well, spend time outdoors if you can, get enough sleep and look after your mental health.”
It seems the crankiness being experienced in my family is a known phenomenon – seasonal affective disorder – a condition caused when reduced levels of sunlight impact our circadian rhythms and serotonin levels and lead to feelings of depression, and/or changes in melatonin levels disrupting our sleep. Depression and poor sleep then feed on one another in a vicious cycle. And make you cranky!
So it was also helpful (like the health advice above) to read in Julia Baird’s Bright Shining: how grace changes everything at the Women’s Book Group last night, Baird’s comment:
“I have learned again and again, from small interactions when someone has been rude or mean, or when a member of the public has yelled for some random reason, that the best way to treat people who shadow our paths is to assume that they may be going through some private hell we don’t know anything about. This resembles, but goes a little beyond, that golden rule found in several religions – treat others how you would like to be treated – as it adds a phrase: treat others how you would like to be treated, on good and horrific days.”
We are, Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1-13, to, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…” We are to do treat others how we would like to be treated on good and horrific days – and when affected by the seasons or not.
Another wonderful contribution to our Book Group last night (thanks, Edna!) were the words of this Lucinda William’s song, Compassion.
Have compassion for everyone you meet
Even if they don’t want it
What seems conceit
Is always a sign
Always a sign
Always a sign
For those you encounter have compassion
Even if they don’t want it
What seems bad manners
Is always a sign
Always a sign
Always a sign
Always a sign of things no ears have heard
Always a sign of things no eyes have seen
You do not know
What wars are going on
Down there where the spirit meets the bone
Down there where the spirit meets the bone
Down where the spirit meets the bone
For everyone you listen to have compassion
Even if they don’t want it
What seems cynicism
Is always a sign
Always a sign
Always a sign
Always a sign of things no ears have heard
Always a sign of things no eyes have seen
You do not know
What wars are going on
Down there where the spirit meets the bone
Down there where the spirit meets the bone
Down where the spirit meets the bone
What seems conceit, what seems bad manners, what seems cynicism – is always a sign of things no ears have heard. They are great lyrics and a great challenge to continue to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called”; to be people who “bear with one another in love.”
So that’s my winter 2024 resolution. To look after my physical and mental wellbeing – and be gentler to those around me too!
Grace and peace,
Belinda
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*The current Covid advice is still to follow Covid Smart behaviours:
• staying up to date with your vaccinations
• speaking to your healthcare team before you become unwell
• washing and sanitising your hands regularly
• physically distancing
• wearing a mask in public indoor places
• testing for COVID-19 if you have symptoms. Even if the test is negative, remain at home until you’re feeling better.