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overcome the blues

Ways to Improve Your Mood and Keep From Getting the Blues in the First Place!

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Rusty and Em Thumbs Up

Moods are funny things, aren’t they? At any given time, they can determine if you’re on top of the world or if it’s on top of you. Even though our circumstances usually don’t change from one day to the next, the way we look at them often does. Monday we can feel so happy that we’d have to fake a smile, but when Tuesday comes around, we seem to have forgotten how to smile.

There are several things that can cause us to be down in the dumps, mopey, grumpy, and just “out of sorts.” Obviously, if something that isn’t to our liking has happened, we’re going to react with a mood that’s less than our best. But, very often the mood can be attributed to something much more shady – something that we didn’t expect to turn on us!

  • Getting too much sleep can alter our moods for the worse. If you sleep 7 hours Friday night, then turn around and put in a 3 hour nap on Saturday afternoon…  by Sunday, you may be lethargic and edgy.   One reason is that you won’t sleep well Saturday night (after your nap marathon).  When our sleep schedules are altered, we don’t often respond with the best of moods.
  • However, not getting enough sleep is even worse! Lack of sleep affects people differently.  Some get cranky and irritable, snapping at people, biting heads off that’d rather stay intact.  Others feel depressed, as though there isn’t much to even smile about.
  • Beware of taking too much allergy medicine! I have noticed (as have many people I’ve talked to) that taking just about any antihistamine can lead to a case of the droops.  One young girl e-mailed me last year (it was actually around this time of year because I remember telling her Happy Easter).  She said that for a few weeks she just felt like there were tears “behind her eyes” most of the day.  She said that things were bothering her that never seemed to bother her before – little things.  After a few e-mails back and forth, I asked her how she felt, otherwise.  When she said, “As long as I keep sucking down ******** (an allergy medicine), I’m okay.”   Light bulb!  I explained to her that she was probably having a reaction to the allergy pills as a lot of us do. Fortunately, her biggest allergic reaction to the trees involved her eyes, so I gave her the name of some outstanding allergy eye drops.  I also told her to place something cold on her eyes when they itch:  Wet cloth, cold spoon, etc.  One week later, she e-mailed and said she felt like her old self again. She took my advice about the cold object on her eyes and keeps a spoon in her purse.  She said she got peculiar looks, but she just laughs. (THAT’S the whole idea!)
  • Spending too much time in the past can dampen your present. I’ve talked a lot about this one – on this site as well as Out of Bounds.  There’s nothing wrong with looking in the past from time to time, but if you find yourself doing it too often, you’re headed for trouble.  This seems to be something that a lot of mothers do when their children get older.  They keep looking at old pictures and wishing they were little again.  The way I look at it is this:  When my girls were little, I held them in my lap and read to them.  Today, we sit across the table from one  another and each talk about things we’ve read.  The same love is involved, the same closeness is experienced.  You can hold your children in your heart just as closely as you did in your arms.
  • Be sure you get enough sunlight and fresh air. Too little of either can dampen your mood considerably.

Focus on the Positive

When you’re feeling down, for whatever reasons, don’t think about the negatives.  Instead, focus on what you love about your life.  Think about your family. They may be lunatics, but they’re your lunatics!

Do you love your bird-filled yard, your cats, your big ole kitchen.  Do you love living within 5 minutes of a Starbucks? Do you love watching movies, then going to IMDB to read about the stars?   These are just a few things that I’m in love with in my own life.  I also love feeding rabbits, raccoons and possums on my patio and in my yard each night.  I sit the food out and watch in absolute delight as they enjoy their supper and the raccoons bathe in the bowl of water.  You haven’t seen cute until you’ve seen a raccoon with a bunch of grapes.  Last night, after the raccoon washed his gorgeous face, a small possum walked over and licked her right on the face.  Very unusual.  I reached for the door, thinking I was going to have to protect an overly friendly (or thirsty) little possum, but the raccoon didn’t seem to mind.

The point is, get your enjoyment from life where you want it.

If you enjoy watching tv each evening, watch away.   It doesn’t matter if others make fun of your shows – they don’t have to watch!  If you enjoy surfing the web, surf away.  If others say you’re wasting your time, remind them that it’s yours!  Plus, if you’re relaxing and enjoying yourself, you aren’t wasting your time, you’re choosing to spend it the way you choose to spend it.  After all, it’s yours, right?

Side thought, why do people always want to tell other people how to spend their time, what they should or shouldn’t enjoy, etc.

Like my own examples, the things that make you the happiest may not seem like much to someone else.  But that doesn’t matter in the least.  If it makes you smile and makes you glad to be alive, it’s your’s and your’s alone.  Others may not understand what I get from feeding every bird and animal in the county, but I know how happy it makes me.  So, you’ll find me buying bird food in bulk.  And smiling.

Exercise the Blues Away

Countless studies prove that regular exercise can improve your mood.  Not only does it help with the blues, exercise actually helps with people who are suffering mild to moderate depression.  What’s more, it’s beginning to play a supporting role in treating severe depression.  Experts are actually finding that exercise can replace some antidepressants.  Studies show that the effects of exercise last longer than antidepressants, work as well, and don’t have the negative side effects. The “side effects” of exercise are all positive!  Now that’s exciting.

Studies show that walking briskly for 35 minutes, 5 times a week OR for 1 hour, 3 times a week can do a world of good for your mood.

The thing about exercise is that it takes effect immediately.   You can be feeling down one minute, then engage in activity and find your spirits lifted immediately.

How does exercise relieve depression and lift bad moods?  Exercise enhances the action of endorphinsy. Endorphins improve natural immunity and reduce the perception of pain. They also  improve your mood.

The “side effects” of regular exercise offer a host of wonderful health benefits:  Lowered blood pressure, protection against heart disease,  lowered risk of many types of cancers, weight loss and/or management, improved circulation, improved respiratory function, and so on.

The next time you’re feeling out of sorts, a walk may be just what you need.

Three Simple Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

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Cardinal In Ice Covered Tree
I’ve gotten about 5 e-mails this month, alone, that had the same question in mind, “How do you overcome 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, football (go Denver Broncos, go), sweaters, homemade soup, hot apple cider, snow, my family being home more often, even more coffee than normal… did I mention snow?

Yep. I’m one of those crazy birds that loves snow. A peaceful snowy morning redefines the word “quiet” and I lose myself in the moment every single time.

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. I actually had a young girl tell me once, “You snow loons make me nuts!”

We won’t go into the fact that the young girl was my own daughter Brittany – the BIGGEST hot weather enthusiast in the entire world. When I run from window to window watching snow fall gracefully to the grown, I think I wound her soul a little bit.

All kidding aside, 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 sting out of shorter days and a lack of sunshine. Even if you’re like Brittany, you can actually survive the winter months and maybe even miss then when they’re gone.

Maybe just a little?

How to Deal With and Even Overcome the Winter Blues:

  1. Fall in love with the season! Okay, if you’re feeling blue, this may seem like a stretch – but your happiness depends upon your open-mindedness.  Remind yourself of the things that only come around (or at least happen more often) when the weather turns cold:  NFL, hockey, homemade soup, special seasonal Starbucks’ drinks, homemade bread, chili, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, college football, college basketball, prime time premieres, skiing, snow cream, snowmen, sledding, cozy evenings watching television, apple cider, hot chocolate,  no yard work, your family’s home more often (depending upon the family, I guess that could go 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.  I almost always have at least one puzzle “going” all winter. Different members of the family will stop by and try to wiggle in a few pieces. The fact that it’s something we only do during the winter means that there’s yet one more fun thing to associate with cold weather.
  2. Talk it out. Grab someone’s ears and talk through your feelings, even if it’s your cat’s ears.  Sometimes, when we let our emotions have their say, we’ll find out what’s at the heart of the matter.  The root of the blues may be a case of grief.  Winter often brings a longing for people who have passed away – especially around Christmas.  People make the mistake of thinking that talking about these loved ones makes the feelings worse.  Au contraire!    Talking about loved ones keeps them alive in our minds and hearts.  We come to realize that they aren’t gone… they’re just a thought away.  If the “root” of the problem has absolutely, positively nothing to do with winter, itself, you may realize you’ve been blaming a pretty cozy season for something that really doesn’t have anything to do with it. When you realize what’s really at the heart of your feelings, you’ll free yourself up to actually enjoy the cold months. And the snow.
  3. Get out of the house and, most definitely, get out of the office. Try to keep things as normal as possible.  If you enjoyed a daily walk in the park during the warm months, bundle up and waddle around the trail in the cold months.   The sunshine, such as it is, will do you as much good as the activity will.  Getting regular doses of both act upon a human the way catnip does a cat. One of the many things I love about winter is the eagerness of the birds. I’m a world class bird feeder/bird watcher, so I love to prepare special wintry meals for them – lots of sunflower seeds, nuts, berries, popcorn, and assorted bread crumbs. I also love to leave food out for our raccoons and possums. The occasional skunk will saunter up and feed and we all hold our breath – hoping not to be sprayed, but man are they cute. These guys always give us wonderful entertainment that’s hard to beat. Fortunately, our cats don’t mind them and they don’t mind the cats.  If you enjoy photography, you’ll find endless beautiful scenes in winter. Bottom line, grab your camera and get out of the house!

For those Negative Nancys who actually enjoy misery, there are a few ways to invite the blues to stick around. To keep the winter blues in your life longer:

  1. Stay cooped up indoors. Pull the curtains and close the blinds don’t get out of the house unless it’s an emergency. Become a recluse and stare at the same walls day in, day out.
  2. Dwell on warmer climates and warmer months. Set beach scenes as your wallpaper and get kind misty eyed each time you look at it. Talk at length about summer days, warm weather, and how much you prefer summer clothes, flip flops, and grilling out.
  3. Complain until your lungs give out. This one’s especially powerful.  It can make the blues turn into something far worse.  You see, each time you complain about the wind gusts, the snow, the cold nose, chapped lips, and so on – you make the situation grow a little larger.  Saying things out loud and dwelling on them in your mind always cause them to grow in strength. Dwell, baby, dwell! Now I’m not talking about the little “Brrrr, it’s colder than death’s fingers out there.” type of statement.  That’s just giving credit where credit is due.  I’m talking about bellyaching and nagging and yelling and feeling sorry for yourself.  That’s the stuff that’ll keep the blues around.

One final thought – a piece of advice that kind of sounds ridiculous (and maybe a little trite) is actually spot on: Fake it ’til you make it.  ACT like you’re gung ho about winter. Buy a great looking new sweater or colorful gloves or maybe even a pair of boots that caught your eye. Set winter scenes as your iPhone and computer’s background Talk incessantly about how much you love this time of year.  Before you know it, you’ll have everyone else fooled… and most importantly, you’ll convince yourself that you’re in a Winter Wonderland and corpulent be happier!

Also See How to Overcome the Winter Blues for more things to love about winter.  There may or may not be a list and Rudolph may or may not be on it.

*** Just a reminder, if you have any blankets, winter coats, sweaters, gloves, hats, etc. you aren’t using – take them to your local Good Will or Salvation Army today.