With less sunshine due to the longer nights and shorter days, the weather just being colder, cloudy and dreary, the winter blues can affect you in a number of ways and you may not even know it. Your experience could vary from being minorly irritated, all the way up to severe depression or a Seasonal Affective Disorder – SAD. Not so ironic that it’s called SAD. But it’s not so funny, either. For some of us SAD can seriously and negatively affect our lives. This means that the winter blahs is something to be taken seriously.
Don’t brush off that yearly feeling as simply a case of the “winter blues” or a seasonal funk that you have to tough out on your own.
Take steps to keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year.
Mayo Clinic
Signs And Symptoms Of SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder – Can Include:
- Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day.
- Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed.
- Having low energy.
- Having problems with sleeping.
- Experiencing changes in your appetite or weight.
- Feeling sluggish or agitated.
- Having difficulty concentrating.
- Feeling hopeless, worthless or guilty.
- Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide.
If you’re concerned about feeling down this winter, you can go into the season with a game plan to get through it with a smile.
Why The Winter Blues?
The winter blues might affect you just because it’s a cold season that can get tiresome after awhile. Depending on where you live, you may have to do some serious preparing just to travel outside and the lack of fresh air and indoor activities might make you weary.
Winter also follows a string of usually happy holidays. You might look forward to the holidays all year long and then, once they’re over with, you might feel a little empty inside. Or perhaps, you find it difficult to begin a new year with a renewed attitude.
How to Survive
With a proper positive attitude, you can sail through any situation. Even if the going gets rough, you know that better times are just ahead. The winter blues are certainly no exception!
Try following some of these tips in order to beat the winter blues:
1. Plan Indoor Activities.
If you’re the type to go a little stir crazy after awhile, maybe you should brainstorm some new and interesting ways to have a good time indoors. You can invite your friends over to play board games, watch movies, or just for a good chat.
Don’t sluff of the board games. There are some fun more adult based games you can play. Take it easy Romeo, not all have to be bedroom games. Think more of a non overly sexual Truth Or Dare. Cards Against Humanity is one great example.
2. Make New Year’s Resolutions.
Some people toss off New Year’s resolutions as “not worth it” because the majority of people forget about them after January. However, you can be the exception to this rule with the proper enthusiasm. Make some realistic goals for yourself, and as you achieve them, you’ll likely beat the blues in the process.
New Years Resolutions do not all need to be about losing weight or working out more. You can choose some other productive resolutions:
- Go To A Museum Once A Month.
- Read One Book A Month.
- Play An Instrument.
- Learn A Language.
- No Matter The Weather, Go For Walks
The list is practically endless.
3. Maintain Your Health.
It’s easy to forego healthy habits during the craziness of the holiday season. Festive treats are thrown around and you may not have time to continue your exercise routines.
- If you’ve neglected your health during the holidays, then it’s important to get yourself back into shape when they’re over. When you’re not treating yourself right, you won’t feel right.
- Guilt from not eating or not exercising only adds to the crappy way that you may be feeling. This may be one of the reasons why you’re having a challenge with the blues.
4. Take Control Over What You Are Thinking.
Negative thinking clouds your brain and brings more negative things into your life, so it’s important to stop these thoughts in their tracks. You have the power to turn it all around. If the blues have gotten you down, chances are that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and, no, it’s not an oncoming train.
You ought to have something that you can latch your hope onto. You may have to do a little digging to find it. Once you do, when you find yourself slipping into negative thoughts, force yourself to think about the good thing. If affirmations or having a personal mantra helps you, use them!
Affirmations, when tied to a productive thought or idea, can help you get your head back together a focused on the good things.
You are what you think. Think the right thoughts and you will be the Right Guy.
5. Enjoy Family Time.
After the holidays, it’s important to continue other traditions of family togetherness. While you might not always have the ability to eat meals together, it’s vital to schedule some special time for everyone to share together.
6. Plan Ahead.
It may help to plan your next summer vacation. You might even find some excellent deals by booking your vacation early. You can then escape the winter blues by visualizing yourself enjoying your summer vacation. Having an exciting activity to look forward to also reduces those winter doldrums.
And, look, if you are reading this early in the New Year, it can only be about three months until the weather starts to change. You can Manage three months.
Another Ray Of Hope To Consider.
In the Northern Hemisphere of the world, the Winter Solstice occurs in late December, and actually even before Christmas! The Winter Solstice typically occurs on December 20 or 21. What is the Winter Solstice? It is the shortest day of the year – The day with the least amount of sunlight. Think about it, after this day, the days start getting longer! The hours of sunlight starts increasing as we go through winter and on to spring. This means that we are on our way out of the winter blues.
Conclusion
If the above suggestions don’t bring you relief from the winter blues, remember that you can always talk with a counselor or coach about your feelings. The winter blues may affect you more severely than others, so, for your own sake, you don’t want to let it go untreated. There is no need to needlessly suffer anymore than necessary. If need help, get it.
In most cases, if you follow the tips above and, as always, make the choice to stay active and interested in what you are doing, you should be able to get through the winter blahs. Winter feels like it can go on with no end, but it does and will end. But it is up to you to get through it. If you make a conscious effort to engage in exciting activities during the winter, or get the help that you may need, you can survive the winter blues and you might actually end up enjoying the winter!
BAM! Be A Man. Do The Right Thing. Take Care Of Yourself This Winter. Happy Holidays!
BAM! Be A Man. Do The Right Thing.
Be The DtRTy Guy!