Dear Maggie,
I’m usually so happy in the spring. Not so much in the winter. This winter was the hardest one on me yet, and all through it I’ve been down and blue. I’ve gained weight, lost energy, and barely sleep at night for all the stress about money these days. But all winter, I kept thinking, once spring arrives, I’ll be fine again. I’ll get my zest for life back again, like I always do. But it’s not happening. I wake up and look at the weather report and think, it’s too cold today. I’ll exercise later, when it’s fifty again. And then when that fifty-degree day comes, I’m totally unmotivated, and would rather do nothing than get up and move. What can I do to get myself out of this rut?
Signed,
Still-Stuck in the Winter Blahs

Dear Stuck,
First, I’ll say the usual, responsible things. Sounds like a bit of depression. Maybe you’ve had Seasonal Depressive Disorder for a long time, and it’s taken a turn for the worse. Maybe you need to talk to a therapist. Maybe you can try a mild anti-depressant. Maybe you can try putting those full-spectrum lights in the rooms where you spend the most time, and it’ll perk you up.
Now I’m going to tell you how to fix this on your own, because this sounds mild enough that you have time. Any thoughts of suicide, though, and you get yourself to a doctor or crisis center immediately.
So, while all of the above might help – I know someone who’s lost 30 pounds within just a couple of months on the right anti-depressant, and is happier and more self-assured than ever. But it took years of being on the wrong meds, and lots of misery, before he got to that point.
Maybe try my way first, and just see if it has an impact. (It will if you can do it.)
We humans tend to approach things backwards. We feel great when things are good. We feel awful when things are bad. We’re active and fit when we feel good. We’re couch- potato-junk-food-addicts when we feel bad. This is exactly the opposite of what works.
The way out of feeling bad, is to do the things you would be doing if you were feeling good. Force yourself, pretend it’s a great day even when it’s not, and do the things you’d do on one of those upbeat, wonderful, sunshine-and-roses days. If you can manage this – even just one time – you’ll be amazed at the results. If you workout, when you’re feeling like you’d rather curl up in the fetal position with a bag of cheesie-poofs, you’re going to force endorphins through your system, and end up feeling great. And when you feel great, you attract great things. The stuff outside you – the financial stuff and stressful stuff that got you feeling bad in the first place—is going to fade away to make room for all the great stuff you’re attracting.
Instead of letting outside situations decide our moods for us, we need to decide our moods for ourselves, no matter what’s happening around us. If we choose to feel good, our lives change for the better. So do whatever it takes to get to a good-feeling place. For some of us, that means dragging our world-weary butts off the couch, getting outside, moving our bodies, and working up a good sweat, and the times we need to do that the most are the times when we feel like it the least.
One week. Try this for one week. I guarantee you, you’ll feel great at the end of it, and from that great-feeling place, you’re going to see great things happen in the other parts of your life. Everything will begin to improve. It’s like magic. It’s like casting a spell that changes everything, but you’ll know that those great changes came from the ones you’ve made inside of you, and you’ll be downright giddy as you realize what immense power you have over your life, right in your own mind and body.
Enjoy this!
Maggie