Happy Monday! Oh who else enjoyed that extra hour of sleep? I know I did. Having kids whenever the “extra” hour comes I usually never get to enjoy it. This time my kids seemed to give me and my husband a little rest.
Monday Motivation: Seasonal Depression
As I went on my day crushing my Sunday routine I got excited about all of the things I needed to do. I went to the Production of Next to Normal. More on that later. As I exited the building immediately I remembered the only thing about gaining an hour and that it gets darker early. It came to mind how depression will escalate as Fall continues and Winter settles in. If you think seasonal depression isn’t real you don’t understand how people work. We have eaten candy and soon we will be gathering for Thanksgiving. Seasonal depression moves hard and fast if you’re ready it will take over!
This season is heavy. It doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate it. It does mean that there are a lot of people who suffer in silence during this time. You have loved ones who aren’t here to share these upcoming holidays. The darkness of the night and the change of the weather changes people’s motivation. We tend to get lazy. Maybe it’s me but we don’t want to work as hard. We move with very little intentions. It’s I’ll get to it after the holidays. I’ll make it happen later. I’ll worry about that after a while.
Monday Preparation
So preparation and acknowledging that this is real especially if you have a tendency to tilt to the seasonal depression side. How can you be aware and prepare?
- Get great friends or family you can be authentic with about your struggle! I have a hotline with a small amount of friends who we check in all year around but we hit it hard in the seasonal depressive months.
- Increase an activity of choice that is for you and about you. You will need a little selfishness while also helping others during this season of giving
- Get active-I am intentional about movement regardless of cold
- Find ways to build-what are your ways of increasing your dreams
- Say no- I know we are going to give back and will be asked to do, to bring, to have and you need to exercise your no muscles
- Since we are in a giving mode; find things that genuinely make you smile. Big or small smile!
Preparation is key. Walking into something telling yourself that things don’t matter will not help. Don’t let the cold come and leave you with limited ways of handing you!
Go and develop a plan of action! Make sure that you aren’t spreading yourself thin. Don’t allow yourself to be pushed to the point of no return! Know they it’s okay to keep your sanity this season and within that could mean a simple no will be you achieve it!
