Is it just us, or is September a bit of a weird time?

The end of the summer, the beginning of the school year, and a new season, it all just feels like a lot. It’s as though the air that September brings is either something you thrive in or something you want to run away and hide from. To say it’s intense is an understatement.

With September bringing an end to summer, we can’t help but enter the month a bit disheartened and almost in mourning for the kindness of Summer. We mourn the more relaxed energy, the less rigid routine and the excitement and spontaneity of summer.

September, for whatever reason, has always meant business. For many people, September is a season of new beginnings, opportunities and possibilities. Perhaps because of the new school year, it’s the first month post-summer or because we enter the final few months before the year-end, but this month has always had an air of newness, that is equal parts contagious and daunting. With so many people entering this month with something new to look forward to, a new beginning to start or a new opportunity to chase, if you happen to be that one person with nothing new to begin, you can’t help but feel left behind, stagnant and stuck.

The intensity of September that the end of summer brings can be overwhelming. Entering new and seriously strict routines with nothing new to look forward to can be daunting, especially if countless new beginnings are happening around you. As a result, you might feel like you have to overcompensate and become your most productive and organised self to chase a new beginning or opportunity that you’re yet to define.

This innate sense of panic that sets in is often the result of feeling overwhelmed and rushed. Rushed to meet everyone else where they are, in all of their excitement and new beginnings and overwhelmed because of a feeling of being left behind and forgotten.

As we enter a new season that takes us closer to the end of the year, it is very normal to feel as though you’re running out of time. It’s natural to evaluate your year up until this point and begin comparing yourself, your achievements and your progress to others around you. While it’s normal, it’s not necessarily healthy and is one of the quickest ways to send you spiralling.

We know it is easier said than done, but looking to others to compare and see where you should be in life is fruitless and ineffective and should be avoided. The only thing to come of doing this will be disappointment, and as we enter a month known for new beginnings, it is vital that we chase joy and fulfilment.

Here at GirlDreamer, we want to help you overcome these feelings of being stagnant, left behind or stuck. We want to help you thrive this month and channel its intense energy.

With September offering so many people new beginnings, it is easy to get caught up in a blur and begin to feel stuck and lost because you might not have anything new coming up. So, when these feelings occur, it is important to consider and rationalise why you’re feeling this way. Are you actually unhappy and feeling stagnant? Or is it that people around you are beginning new opportunities and journeys, and you’re not?

Identifying why you’re feeling the way you are is the easiest way to move forward in a positive manner that allows you to enjoy the newness of a new month and season and not dwell in dread. Determining whether you want to make a change to feel less stuck or whether you are actually just caught up in the beginnings of others will allow you to work to resolve your feelings and make concrete steps towards feeling better.

If it is that you are feeling left behind or stagnant, you can work to create a routine and change that will allow you to feel more positive. If it is that the new beginnings of others are impacting you, it might be helpful to begin practising gratitude for where you are in life. Celebrate your accomplishments and enjoy your current chapter and journey thus far. Celebrating and practising gratitude will allow you to recognise how far you have come and all that you have achieved, and moreover, it will also ensure that if there are changes that you want to make, you will feel confident doing so because of how much you have already accomplished.

The intensity that September brings, wherein you feel like you must be your most productive self, make changes and create a whole new life, can be a very heavy burden to bear. Feeling anxious and overwhelmed, as though the world is moving around you, is a common feeling. While we know just how familiar this feeling is, it is important to remember that a temporary feeling of overwhelm should not drive you to make changes and upheave your entire life in order to align with what others are doing.

While it is innate to want to align with others and be where they are with new possibilities and opportunities, it’s important to remember just how deeply different all of our paths are. We can’t be the same and do the same as others. Our journeys are entirely different and built for us and us alone.It is important to remember that the intensity of September and its strong get your life together energy can be channelled in a way that drives positivity, joy and happiness rather than dread and despair. Creating changes, beginning new journeys and foraging new paths should be done out of excitement and hope rather than spiralling angst. This month, we encourage you to actively find joy, celebrate your accomplishments and practice gratitude, and if then you still dream of more, go get it!