Winter can be a challenge, but beating the winter blues is not as difficult as it seems. Here are three simple ways to add a dose of happiness to the winter months.
NOTE: Sadness and depression are not the same thing. If you are simply feeling a little down, these ideas can help cheer you up. If you are dealing with depression, including seasonal affective disorder, please seek a qualified professional who can help you. You matter and they are here to help.
Shorter Days
Winter is full of a lot of things: cold weather, snow, dreary days. One thing it’s not full of is sunlight. Our days are shorter and our time outside often lessens.
But it doesn’t have to stop us from enjoying ourselves. We can still have a lot of fun. There are several ways of beating the winter blues. Here are three of them.
Three Simple Steps
If you are focused on beating the winter blues, there are three things you need to conquer. The long winter months, cold weather, and isolation have a psychological effect on us that give us that bluish feeling. As there are three things that can cause that feeling, here are three activities you can do that will specifically combat them.
- Have a Group Video Chat: With today’s technology it’s easy to get a bunch of people on a video call together. Winter has a way of isolating people. If you have some good friends you feel isolated from, start up a group video chat. You may even want to make it a weekly thing. Find something for it to be about. It could be tea time or a book club or a discussion about Fantasy Football. You could even play a game together. The sky’s the limit!
- Plan a Vacation: It doesn’t have to be a real vacation, but it could be! The winter months can make us feel cooped up causing us mental pain. At the same time, our brains struggle to distinguish reality from imagination, which we can use to our advantage. Go online and plan a nice tropical vacation. Watch some vacation videos and check out some warm, wide open areas. You will be amazed at how much this can improve your mood.
- Add Some Light: There’s many reasons we love Christmas lights. One might be that we feel a loss of light during the winter months and it helps combat the dreariness. As you’re beating the winter blues, try to add some light into what you do. It might be mood lighting like firelight, candlelight, or Christmas lights. It could also be something a lot bigger. I’ll bet there’s all kinds of ideas you can come up with.
Beating the Winter Blues
Winter has a way of challenging us in several areas, but there are three areas where we can make our days better. By getting people together virtually, imagining a wonderful tropical getaway, and making the most of the light we have, we can go a long way to beating the winter blues. Why not make a plan to try one of these steps today?
