Even though the post-solstice days are getting longer -- by approximately two minutes a day -- the accrual is so gradual that we don't really notice it for quite a few weeks. In the meantime, most of us quickly grow tired the dark days and cold nights of winter. The snow, the ice and the chilled wind keep us inside more than we might like. Some of us, however, are affected more than others. Folks who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder display symptoms of extreme SAD-ness: boredom, depression, exhaustion and burn out.
When these gloomy moods overtake us, we usually look for external stimulation rather than internal. But the winter-weary solution exists within ourselves. It is within that we can find greater control and empowerment.
The challenge is to see every day as a good day, with its own special charms and offers of pleasure and gratification. The trick is to shift our perception so that we are able to see and experience our situation, whatever it might be, in a more positive light.
Here are some strategies that we can employ to brighten our mood on even the darkest of days:
- Changing your consciousness to a lighter one can be as simple as turning on a light. Every day during winter at about 4:00 PM, I turn on every light in every room of the house. This practice really goes against my upbringing, as well as my fervent Green tendencies. As a child, I was admonished to turn on a light only when I entered a room, and reminded to turn it off again when I left it. I couldn't agree more, but I find it cheering to have the lights all ablaze. And though it makes my electric bill more expensive, I figure it is way cheaper than therapy!
Before you know it, spring will be here and you will enter the sunny part of the year with a bright spirit and a lightness of being.
People are like stained glass windows, they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
-- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross