The holidays can be either the happiest time of the year or the saddest. For those who have reasons to feel sad (lost loved ones, grown children, divorce, a recent break up, loved ones who’ll be away from home on Christmas…), all of the ridiculously happy faces only add to their own unhappiness – Why can’t I feel as happy as everyone else? If you recognize yourself in this scenario, don’t give up hope just yet. You don’t have to face Thanksgiving and Christmas with a frown on your face or a tear in your eye.
Below are some suggestions for putting the Happy back in Happy Thanksgiving and the Merry back in Merry Christmas. A lot of them would actually work for any time of the year – after all, the blues aren’t exclusive to the Holiday Season!
- Number one for a reason: Buy and wrap new toys for the different Toys for Children programs in your area. Find the prettiest, brightest Christmas paper (or bags) you can find and let the joy that they’ll bring to underprivileged children fill your heart and soul. Think about their little faces lighting up and about the fact that they’ll have something to brag about to other kids about when they go back to school. Blues? What blues?
- Go to your local animal shelter and adopt a couple of new babies! It’s just not possible to be miserable when you’re giving a wonderful new life and home to a couple of precious cats or dogs. Buy them new fluffy beds, bright food and water bowls, and (of course) toys.
- If cats or dogs are out of the question for some reason, head off to a local pet store. You’ll find hamsters, guinea pigs, and a host of little cuties looking for love.
- Work a puzzle.
- Buy a coloring book and crayons and don’t worry about staying inside the lines. Extra points if you grab one with Santas, Elves, and candy canes.
- Make homemade boiled custard.
- Go to Starbucks for a special latte of the season.
- Take someone who always makes you laugh out to lunch.
- Take a ride around town with the radio blaring. Sing out loud to each and every song.
- Watch It’s a Wonderful Life.
- Go up to a department store Santa and ask, “So, what do you want for Christmas?”
- Watch re-runs of your favorite sitcoms. I Love Lucy, Sanford and Son, Andy Griffith, Roseanne, Friends… If it tickles your funny bone, give it a chance to do so.
- Volunteer.
- Make taffy.
- Bake sugar cookies and cut them into wonderful different shapes.
- If you have a blog, give it a new look. Change the colors, graphics, or whatever. Mixing things up can be fun.
- Check with a local nursing home. See if it’d be okay to give each resident a cute little snowman or Santa. If you’re allowed to do so, deliver each one personally and visit for as long as they’ll have you. I don’t even have to tell you how much this would mean.
- Put up a Christmas tree with the gaudiest, most pimped out decorations you can find! (On a safety note, if you have pets, skip the garland and silver icicles.)
- Move that body! Pop in an exercise dvd, ride a stationary bike, or clean house with a vengence. Physical activity releases feel good endorphins that’ll have you back in the fa la la la la in no time.
- Go see The Blind Side while it’s in theaters. After that, buy the dvd. Also, read about the family behind the movie.
- Make a list of the people and things you are thankful for.
- Make a list of the people in your life. Now go back and, for each one, think about one of the times they made you laugh out loud. In no time at all, you’ll be laughing out loud again.
- Make someone’s day. Compliment a loved one, cook their favorite meal, bake their favorite cookies, or write them a heart-felt note telling them how much they light up your world.
- Don’t over-expect. Real life is not Little House on the Prairie. People generally don’t stand around the table singing carols, spew lovely little speeches, or hug out of the blue. If my family behaved this way I’d think someone had spiked their egg nog. Accept and love your family just the way it is. Yes, they’re quirky. Sure, they leave their socks all over the place. No, they don’t say “Thank you” nearly often enough – but they’re your’s and you love them, quirks and all. (Besides, if we were to be honest, don’t we own a few quirks ourselves?) Also, don’t over-expect with yourself. You are going to flat wear yourself out if you try to bake every recipe in your favorite cookbook and you’ll flat ruin yourself if you try to get everyone all of the presents you want to get them. Dial down!
- Be sure you get enough sunlight. Open up the blinds and let the sunshine in. It can make a real difference in how you feel.
- Did you know that learning something new can lift even the nastiest mood? Pick a subject that you know very little about and research the heck out of it. It’ll give your brain a great workout and your spirits will soar. Learning feels good, pure and simple.
- LOL Cats – This website should come with a warning, You Will Become Addicted to the Fun.
- Chocolate. I’m not even kidding – eating chocolate is a shortcut to a better mood.
- Well, that’s Bananas! Science has proven that eating a banana can make you feel more relaxed. This fun fruit contains tryptophan, which helps the body manufacture serotonin. Serotonin is a natural relaxant. What s more, low levels of serotonin tend to go hand in hand with depression. Monkeys are on to something here.
- Get plenty of rest. Sometimes what we think are “blues” are actually just the “drags.” During this time of year we actually need MORE rest, yet we tend to get less.
- Get as much fresh air as possible.
- Eat healthy foods.
- Smile even when you’re in the room alone.
- Find a church home. Having a church home and family are wonderful blessings – but for the individual who is feeling lonely, they could make all the diffenece in the world.
- Research your family’s history. You’ll probably meet some very interesting characters along the way. It’s fun and it’s educational.
- Take up crafts. My youngest daughter and I were talking about this recently. We both want to learn to make jewelry and other crafts, we want a sewing machine, and I want to make a huge doll house and fill it with little furniture and people! The more we talked about it, the more excited we got.
- Re-arrange the furniture in your living room.
- Wake up a tired room by giving it a whole new look and vibe. If your bedroom has been green and white since Carter was in the White House, but a bright red (or blue, purple, or orange) new comforter and contrasting pillows. The happier the colors, the better.
- Watch Runaway Bride, starring Julia Roberts.
- Buy a new, fun set of dishes.
- Sing to your cat.
- Write a list of your 10 favorite actors, 10 favorite actresses, 10 favorite movies, and 10 favorite all-time television shows.
- Watch the Game Show Network.
- Set up a Twitter account and tweet like you mean it.
- Eat Ramen Noodles. No scientific claims, here. They’re just kicky. And good.
- Give yourself a facial. You can buy some really cool masks at the store – exfoliate, darling.
- Go to the driving range and take it all out on the little golf balls.
- Play frisbee.
- Make ice cream cones.
- Build a Gingerbread House.
- Stop thinking about what you don’t have and dwell only on what you do have.
- Buy bird feeders and fill them with seed. Your yard will soon be a lot more beautiful with colorful little appreciative birds.
- Take up yoga. I love myself some yoga.
- Buy your dog a new toy and help her break it in.
- Have your nails done.
- Learn to play a new card game.
- Gather your golf buddies together for a game of poker.
- Buy a Pilates dvd and have at it.
- Make handmade gifts for your loved ones. They’ll appreciate them more than you’ll ever know, and creating them is incredibly fun.
- Chill. Be perfectly still and quiet for 20 minutes each day. It gives life a chance to catch up with you!
- If something specific, which is out of your hands, is bothering you – crumble it up. Literally. Write it down on a piece of paper (I wish I had more money, I wish my parents were still alive, I wish my home were bigger, I wish I were smaller…. ). Now crumble up the piece of paper and throw it away. This symbolic action is a reminder that somethings just have to be let go of. Carrying around burdens, resentment, guilt, grief – or any host negative emotions – is akin to taking a big gulp of rat poisoning. I’m convinced that many people stay miserable simply because it’d take a little effort to be any other way. They somehow manage to get comfortable in this misery. Make a vow to never let that happen to you. When you feel even the slightest tinge of sadness, realize that the next move is up to you. You can lie down with the blues or kick them out of your bed. You look like a kicker to me!
Remember the holidays are to be enjoyed, not complicated. Relax and enjoy every single minute and every single person.
It probably goes without saying, but I’m never one to let something go unsaid: These are suggestions for individuals who are feeling blue – not depressed. We’re referring to a feeling of sadness that has you back on your heels – not the sort of sadness that knocks you completely off of your feet.
If you are so sad that you don’t want to even get out of bed, and if this sadness has lasted more than a few weeks – please see a professional asap. They can help you.
I’ve gotten about 5 e-mails this month, alone, about how to deal with the winter blues. For some reason, I’ve never personally had this problem. Maybe it’s because I associate so many things that I love with winter: Christmas, snow, hot chocolate, chili, UK basketball, Denver Broncos (next year…even without the world’s coolest coach), sweaters, homemade soup, apple cider, my family being home more often, and coffee 24/7 as opposed to 12/7. Maybe that’s why when I hear the words “Winter Blues,” my first thoughts are “Why? What? It’s winter!” I know I’m probably in a very exclusive club – people who don’t feel blue whatsoever during the winter months. You can easily recognize us odd ducks. We’re the ones running around with our Starbucks cups, all bundled up and smiling when someone says there’s snow in the forecast. However, dealing with the “Winter Blues” is a very real problem for many people. So what follows are 3 suggestions that I think can help take the blues and blahs and turn them into smiles and laughs.
either way!), etc. Watch dvds, play Scrabble, Uno, Life, Trivia Pursuit, or Monopoly. Grab the most difficult looking jigsaw puzzle in town and set up a special table just for it. My mom would do that every winter. I’d watch our Siamese cat, Solo. He’d keep his crossed eyes trained on the puzzle, waiting for her to get about halfway through with it.. then he’d take a running dive on the table and pieces would go everywhere. My dad would laugh, my mom would pretend to care, and Solo would watch as we tried to pick up the pieces before our toy poodle ate them. Such were winter evenings in our home!
