It’s official: The holidays are over. Christmas trees are coming down and being returned to their usual places in storage. Cleanup from our quarantined New Years celebrations is complete. This week, we each went back to our previous routines as if it had all just been a dream.

On the one hand, going back to normal after the holidays is a sad ordeal. We all love that special season of joy, rest, and time with loved ones. If you’re like me, you wish it would never end.

At the same time, though, there’s something comforting about routine. The holidays are great, but they can also be hectic: making sure you’ve shopped for everyone on your list, arranging gift exchanges, setting aside quality time with all your loved ones. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also the busiest time of year for a lot of us.

The lull that comes after, the return to what some may consider the drudgery of everyday life, isn’t something we always look forward to. But I’ve long been convinced that we should learn to be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and that includes where we are right now.

The reality is that we love the holidays because they’re special. If life was like that all the time, then it would just be typical, and we wouldn’t enjoy it as much. We need to experience the ordinary in order to appreciate the extraordinary. It’s how our brains work.

I’m choosing to lean into this more normal pace of life rather than resist or resent it. There are still so many things about this time in my life that I’m thankful for, and I never want to take those things for granted.

Of course, even this time isn’t completely normal. We’ve been in a pandemic for so long that it might seem like life has always been this way, but it hasn’t. And it won’t be forever.

I’m choosing to enjoy this return to normalcy as I wait for the greater one that’s coming. There’s something to appreciate about every period of life, so right now, I’m just thankful that everyone I love is healthy and getting by.

If you find yourself feeling a bit down about the end of the holiday season, I’d encourage you to look for the things that make your normal, everyday life meaningful. They’re there, even if they’re a little harder to see right now. If you’ve got people to love and something meaningful to do day in and day out, that’s a lot. And it’s enough to be content until the next special time comes around.

Of course, it’s important to have something to look forward to as well. Personally, I can’t wait to take Katherine out for our first dine-in meal in a year. Hopefully it’ll be possible soon! Until then, I’m happy with the routine we have and the fulfillment I get from it. Finding contentment in normalcy is a skill that we have to learn, but it’s certainly worth it.

Thanks for reading, friends! I hope your year is off to a great start, and I’ll talk to you again soon.