10 Dazzling Ideas to DEFEAT the Dreaded Down in the Dumps Depressing Time of Year

The decorations are down, the cookies have all been eaten, the presents have all been played with and put away, the scale is registering a number that seems impossible, the wind and snow are blowing and the credit cards bills are higher than we’d like.  Yes, Folks, it’s January.  We spend considerable time with the anticipation of the holidays.  It ends up taking on a life of its own, giving us something to look forward to when the leaves have fallen off the trees and the snow starts coming down.  For most of us, it’s a joyful time of year a time for family, friends, gift giving, indulgence and first-rate parties.  But as soon as January 2^nd comes around the weather outside becomes bitter, we are closed in the house and there are no whopping celebrations to look forward to, so NOW WHAT?

I must admit the subsequent months ahead are always roughest for me.  Cheerfulness, which is already not as natural for me as most of you might think, is even harder for me to come by, in these frigid winter months.  When January rolls around I constantly feel like my light bulb of happiness is a little dimmer than it should be. I’m not certain if it is the absence of vitamin D, the lethargic nights when it gets dark early and there is nothing to do other than watch TV, the scarcity of colors outdoors, the letdown after all the festivities of the holidays or the fact that I know that it will be MONTHS before we will be able to go outside without bundling up.  It’s most likely all of the above but no matter the reason, as soon as my New Year’s hang over is gone; I start to feel a little despondent.  It is a funk that I just can’t seem to shake, year in and year out.  I’m breaking that cycle and this year is going to be different for me.  I’m challenging myself starting RIGHT NOW.  I will not go down that rabbit hole again this year.  So, how am I’m going to pull this off?

After perusing a few professional websites on what I should do to beat the blues, I now know that I should sit by a light box, take vitamin D supplements, keep a set sleep schedule, eat healthy – no caffeine or alcohol, and exercise.  Oh GREAT!   I’m sure all of these tips work but frankly those things sound more depressing to me than the arctic winter weather.  So I’ve given this some thought and here is what I’m endorsing for myself for the remainder of this winter to make sure I don’t slip into my winter blahs.  If you too experience the winter blues, please feel free to challenge yourself along with me and make the most of this winter.

Consider this Deanna’s 10 Dazzling Ideas to DEFEAT the Dreaded Down in the Dumps Depressing time of year (I know, too many D’s….deal with it.).

1.       Get outside EVERYDAY -
No matter rain or shine, wind or snow, bundle up and let the cold crisp air enter your lungs, allow the red hue to shine on your cheeks and embrace the outdoors.  Even if the couch and blankets are calling your name.  Make sure it’s more than that quick trip you make to and from your car.  Really embrace the elements.

“I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.” – John Muir

2.      Don’t isolate yourself -
This one is a big one for me, the part I love about the winter is that my inner homebody can come out.  I love to just be home; with myself, my thoughts, my rules, just me!  The warmer months seem to be filled with making plans, plans, plans.   Which can be good but I fancy being home.   I guess it’s a double edged sword because it’s one of the things I loathe about the winter too.  After a while, being isolated can do a number on your psyche.  This is an easy fix; get together with people once in a while!  Plan a beat the winter blues party or just gather with neighbors, family or friends to have dinner, to play games or just watch a movie.  

"Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster."
- Theodore Roosevelt

3.       Dress to impress – Ditch the cozy clothes and make sure you dress up for the day.  Maybe not like you’re attending a ball, but enough to feel good about yourself.  With all the bundling we have to do in the winter season, I don’t know about you, but I go for COMFY and WARM, when I get dressed.  Fashion tends to take a back seat.  Since I don’t have to punch a clock, I can stay in my fleece PJs and ripped sweatshirt all day long.  To some of you, this probably sounds like a dream come true but believe me it’s not.  Dressing cozy and comfy all day everyday just makes me feel sloppy, lazy and unattractive.  I think we all feel a little better when we spend a bit more attention on our appearance.   I always wonder why I save my nice clothes for special occasions.  No more.  I’m breaking that habit and treating everyday special.  So dress to impress, yourself that is, and try and stay off the peopleofwalmart.com website this season.

“Shoes transform your body language and attitude.  They lift you physically, and emotionally.”
 – Christian Louboutin

4.       Keep on Inspiring the Positive - Surrounding yourself with positive people and thoughts is the best way to break out of your winter funk.  For me creating this blog is one of the best motivations to stay positive.  People who know me always snicker when they read my encouraging words and wonder where they come from.   Let’s face it; it isn’t the person that they see most of the time.  I’m not a pessimistic person but I can be cynical and my personality isn’t exactly sunshine and roses.  So, what I’m saying is that I think one of the reasons I have chosen to write about positive experiences and aspects of life, is to spark the positive side of me that is within me but doesn’t make an appearance much.  Think of it as my alter-ego.  I can honestly say that I feel so inspired after I’ve been writing that there is no way to feel down in the dumps.  Surround yourself with whomever or whatever brings out your optimistic side and get rid of the negative.

“An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship.  Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.”

 

5.       Embrace the season -    Believe me no one despises the winter chill more than I do.  Just ask my husband how many times I bring up moving to a warmer location; during the winter months (it is at least once a day).  Since the lottery hasn’t made me the owner of my own private island yet, I guess I just need to enjoy where I’m at right now.  Suck it up buttercup (it’s what I tell my eight year old all the time)!  One way to get over all the cold and snow is to just EMBRACE it and have fun with it.  Go sledding, build a snowman, and make snow angels, learn how to ski or lace up the ice skates and dare to try your fate, on the ice.  Bring out your inner child.  You know the sparkle that you see in kids’ eyes when the snow is falling, get that sparkle back and have fun with it. 

“When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead.” – Hemingway

6.       Vitamin D – Ok so realistically who is going to sit by a light box?  Not this girl.  I know that all of us north of the Mason Dixon line are vitamin D deficient and that can lead to depression, especially in the winter months.  So, when the sun is shining make sure you soak up as many rays as you can, take trip to the tanning bed (I know it’s not good for your skin but it does wonders for you well-being) or if you can pump your diet full of vitamin D foods like –egg yolks, tuna, salmon and cheese. I guess it can’t hurt trying, right?

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you.”
– Walt Whitman

 

7.       Exercise – Ok, so I guess it’s inevitable, we have to exercise.  Not just only to keep our bodies happy but we need to exercise to keep our brains happy too.  Studies have shown that even a 10 minute walk can boost your brain activity.  I might hate this one the most, but in fact, when my ass is moving and my heart gets pumping I feel so much better about myself and it’s hard to have the blues.  Turn up the music and dance around the house while you clean and EXERCISE.EXERCISE.EXERCISE. 

 “Physical Fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body it is the basis of creative and dynamic intellectual activity.” – JFK

 

8.      Have something to look forward to - Doesn’t matter how big or small it is, keep something in your mind that makes you upbeat.  With all the hype and buildup of the holiday season there is a large let down when January rolls around and there is zilch, on the calendar.  If your calendar is blank, find something to put on it to build up the hype and keep you motivated to looking forward.   Do those projects you’ve been putting off, indulge in a spa treatment, go to a sporting event or concert, go on a tryst to the movies, and continue a hobby you love or start a new one you’ve always wanted to try.  When winter seems endless, you need to plan something exciting.  Plan something that excites you and do more of what makes you happy.

“If you never did, you should.  These things are fun and fun is good.” – Dr. Seuss

9.       Get away and break out of your mold - Ideally you should plan a vacation to a tropical location. Nothing beats the winter blues better than feeling the sand in your toes and the sun on your face but if you can’t swing that, get away for a night.  Book a hotel in your hometown with a pool or go to an indoor waterpark.  Escaping the elements for a brief period of time can do wonders to your brain.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life to not escape us.” – Anonymous

 

10.   Bring the color back into your life – Winter to me, seems so dark and dismal, so dull and ugly.  Sure the snow can be beautiful and there are pretty moments throughout winter but overall it seems like the color has been sucked out of the world, plenty of monotonous greys and browns.  So why not bring the color back?  Stimulate your visual sense by redecorating a space in your house and changing your surroundings.  Let’s face it, we spend more time inside this time of year, why not make it interesting?  It doesn’t have to be a remodel just move some things around, freshen up the space.  Pick up some colorful flowers, at the market and put them in a vase or buy a small item that has a pop of color.  It will be more enjoyable to see blue instead of being blue.  Experiencing the hues, on the inside, that are missing outside will sure brighten your day.

“She colors her thoughts with only the brightest hues.” – Kobi Yamada

So, there you have it.  If you are in a huff, just because it’s winter, snap out of it and follow my ten steps to defeat the down in the dumps and LIVE YOUR LIFE.   For those of you that know me, please keep me in check because I am not spirally into that dark place this winter.  I’m grabbing the bull by the horns, jumping on his back and riding him into spring.  Take that POLAR VORTEX!  Just remember, I’m not an expert, these are my opinions and my experiences but I’d like to think I know EVERYTHING, so with that,  I know I’m right, so you should listen to me!

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Unknown

 

 

Another calendar year has come to close, as many of us will do, I took some time to sit back and mull over my 2013; the good, the bad and the ugly.  With each passing year, we are miraculously handed a FRESH start, a new beginning at Midnight on every January 1^st, to do whatever we want.  We kiss a stranger or a loved one and then most of us will make resolutions that won’t last into February but it is what we are programmed to do, with our clean slate.  We all aspire to eat healthier, exercise more often, look mind-blowing in our swim suits, spend less dinero, make more dough, manage our stress, discover our dream job, be a better person and give back and so on and so on.  Let’s face it, every single one of us wants to be that impeccable person.  I say fooey to that, who is perfect?   Just be yourself, and with each passing year maybe you can be a little better version of yourself.   What screws us up in life is the picture of the way it’s supposed to look.  You are who you are for a reason don’t try and be flawless, it’s too much pressure and you will ALWAYS fail, even with your absolute best efforts.  Now is the time to figure out how to get through another revolution around the sun, on the new path set out in front of us on January 1st.    I’m not big on resolutions, they never seem to stick but I will say that I unconsciously try to be a little better person than I was the year before.   I’m not sure I succeed at this, on all levels of my life, but I always seem to do something a little better than I did the year before.  I say baby steps to becoming the person you have always wanted to be.  What’s that joke, how do you eat an elephant?...one bite at a time (ba da bump).  No one can do it all at once.  We all have good intensions but it’s impossible to change everything all at the same time, so go easy on yourself and realize you have already come so far, your life is a long book and your ending isn’t written yet.

The 2013 chapter of my story was a rollercoaster of ups and downs, as most years tend to be.  I like to think that 2013 was a year of pushing myself a smidge further than I really wanted to go and demonstrating to myself that it’s never too late to try unfamiliar things.  So here goes….the good in 2013.  I challenged myself to run a 5K, and not only did I complete a 5K, I can say I accomplished two of them, and neither of them were your standard 5K road race.  Ok, so there were no land speed records for me but it was so far out of my wheel house and comfort zone, it scared the living shit out of me.  2013 was the year I told myself I could do it and PROVED myself right. I’m sure in 2014; I will again, scare myself to death and sign up for a few races and maybe even beat last year’s times?  This past year was also the year I started writing and set off to start this blog.  In the past, I had continually thought about writing but never really imagined I was any good at it.  Jury’s still out on that, but with each passing year I worry less and less about what others think and have found that I love writing, so who cares if I’m any good at it?  I vow to do more writing in the coming year, perchance getting better at it in 2014.  I feel like I stepped out of my comfort zone in 2013, I conquered a hip hop dance class, frolicked in a volleyball league and had a blast engaging in a recreation softball league with some of my new best mates.  I exhibited a love hate relationship with the some of the new ideas that weren’t really my cup of tea but I wouldn’t change them for the world.  I enjoyed setting the standard for my daughter, establishing the idea that it is never too late to try new things.  I deduce from the year, that it was a good lesson for me too.  Now and again we get so stuck in our ways we don’t go out and try anything new.  I hope that zest for the unknown that accelerated in 2013 endures for years to come. 
In 2013, I can say I connected with and made some new friends; you know the ones that just really get you and you can completely be yourself with.   I am happy to say that indubitably we will stay connected, no matter what direction our lives go in.  I really look forward to this New Year with friends by my side, making me a better person than I was the year before.  I’m so fortunate to have a better half who fancies making me happy.  As I’ve expressed in other writing, I am infatuated with visiting new places.   My husband made me so blissfully happy by taking the family on more than a few jaunts over the year.  I’m sure he appreciated them too but deep down I know he does it for me.  As a family, this past year we snorkeled a vivid coral reef and took a catamaran ride though Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, climbed a waterfall and experienced riding horses in the teal blue waters of Jamaica, sipped fruity drinks in Margaritaville on the island of Grand Turk (oh how I wish I was there now), caught some waves boogie boarding and enjoyed chasing crabs on the beaches of the Outer banks, watched groups of dolphins swimming the shoreline right along Virginia Beach and we even slipped back in time, way back, while visiting Colonial Williamsburg.  I love new adventures. Traveling, seeing and doing new things is something I will never get enough of and with any luck that will continue into 2014 and beyond.  I was blessed to have shared these experiences, etching them into my memory forever, with my family and friends. 
During the summer of 2013, my daughter and I devoted the summer to paying it forward, with our 77 days of acts of kindness.  What an escapade it was, the things I learned from and hopefully taught my daughter, during that undertaking were spectacular.  I’m thrilled to have done something so very encouraging.  It’s something I have always wanted to do and my hope is that the kindness we showed, my daughter will carry with her forever.  I look forward to doing more charitable acts in 2014, possibly even bigger and better.  In 2013, I was able to use my creativity to refresh the surrounding in our home, by repurposing materials no one wanted, my favorites being the wood pallets I attached to our living room wall and the driftwood I framed the bathroom mirror with.  I was involved in many DIY projects that I thoroughly enjoyed and have always wanted to do.  Now the surrounding of our home matches my personality and I love looking at my ideas every day.  2013 was a much more creative year than the past and I’m sure I will one up myself again in the coming year, one bite at a time, remember?  I just wish I had a bigger house for all of the ideas, in my head.

With all those highs on the rollercoaster ride of 2013, there of course were various dips too.  The bad, unfortunately 2013 will eternally be remembered by me as, the year I lost my grandmother, a woman that I was devoted to throughout my years.  It would be crazy to say that, that event did not change me, because it has.  My grandmother’s passing was a blessing, because of the peaceful way she went, as much as a tragedy for me, if you will, an end of an era for my family.  I am blessed and indebted that I had NO regrets or unsaid words with her and I will always revere the time we spent together.  It is still hard for me to believe I am entering a new year without her.  With all the upbeat happenings I remember from the year, I would say the two occurrences I learned the most from were the most devastating and will forever change me ; the passing of a prominent woman in my life and a bad experience that felt as if it divided my community.  You guessed it, the ugly for me was when my community, the one I have always considered my home, was divided this year on the idea of a merger of school districts.  Unfortunately I ended up on the losing side of that battle, and believe me it was a battle, I felt bloody and battered at the end of it and the emotional scars are still there.  I guess that is just how the world works, we learn and change as much from the undesirable things as we do from all the good, and we probably learn more in the process, to carry with us to the next year.

I caught sight of this quote the other day from an unknown and it really got me thinking.   “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”  Following some reflection, I have come to conclusion that with every year that elapses I seem to learn more and more, have MORE to be grateful for and know that what I have now, 20, 10 or even 5 years ago, I could have never even imagined.  I do feel that I am genuinely one of the luckiest people alive.  I have the best husband on earth, a beautiful healthy daughter, a roof over my head and food on the table, what more could I ask for?  Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t run around every day feeling this way, my family can attest to this.  I am human and for some reason it’s easier to dwell on what we DON’T have as opposed to what we have. Like I said, when I focused on what I do indeed have it really makes me feel like a schmuck, when I want more.  It’s a new year and with that comes new dreams, goals, and hopes and of course WANTS.  That hope for change or more is what gets me up in the morning, that doesn’t mean I love what I have any less.  I hope in my journeys in 2014, while I want more, I ALWAYS remember not to spoil what I have NOW, just for the sake of having more.  That I want more for the right reasons.  I guess there is a fine line between being happy with what you have and understanding why you want more.  I think I will always want more, not necessarily more monetary things, JUST MORE, because it is my way of making myself a little better every year, so if that makes me a schmuck, so be it.   I’m sure I will be a schmuck again in 2014. 

2014, what is in store for me?    In 2014, it is my hope that I always focus on the fact that I have an amazing daughter and husband, cherish all the good they bring to my life instead of dwelling on the fact that they drive me batty every once in a while.  I want to cherish my relationships, deepening the old ones and forming new ones.  I will choose to make more time for ME, continue to learn, change what needs to be changed and try to continue my journey toward making my dreams come true, the ones I right now am only hoping for.  Always remembering what I have in front of me right now is amazing, never losing sight of how good I have it.  Most importantly, I would like to make sure I laugh every day.   Oh and if there is a genie in a bottle somewhere out there ready to grant me my three wishes; I would like to look amazing in my swimsuit, find my dream job and hope it pays boat loads of money or winning the lottery would work too.  What!!? I didn’t say I was perfect.  This coming year is yours, what will you do with it?