Ernest Hemingway once said, “The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn as an adult is the relentless need to keep going, no matter how shattered I feel inside.” It’s the kind of quote that hits especially hard on a dreary January Sunday morning—the kind where you can almost feel the weight of the month pressing down on your bones. January, with its cold, short days and long to-do lists, seems determined to remind us that resilience isn’t just a nice word we toss around. It’s a muscle we need to flex.

You start the year filled with holiday cheer, New Year’s resolutions, and a determination to be better, stronger, fitter, more organized—insert whatever unrealistic goal you’ve set for yourself. But almost immediately, January demands that you start tapping into your vat of resilience. It’s like December hands you a full cup of hope, and by mid-January, you realize you’re already drinking from that cup, and the drip-drip-drip of energy loss is relentless.

January is like the testing ground for how much you can endure while you’re still wiping off the leftover holiday glitter. It doesn’t care how shattered you might feel after the marathon that was the holiday season. It says, “Hey, you’re an adult. Keep going.”

Hemingway’s quote? It’s not just a reflection of personal hardship—it’s an anthem for this time of year. A reminder that we’re all trudging through, one foot in front of the other, even when our inner batteries feel like they’re running on fumes. January is cold, and it’s relentless, but that’s precisely when resilience starts showing up. It’s when the drip starts and you realize, “Okay, this is what it means to just keep going.”

So, on this dreary Sunday, if you’re feeling like your inner reserve is already dangerously low, take solace in knowing you’re not alone. It’s just January doing its thing. And maybe, just maybe, Hemingway had it figured out: we all feel shattered sometimes, but we still keep going. Because really, what’s the alternative?