Oh yeah. It’s that time of year if you live on the East Coast, the Midwest (like me), and the Rocky Mountains where you look outside and see snow on the ground along with temperatures between 0 and 30 degrees with the wind chill well below zero . After looking at that window, he takes a deep breath and sighs to himself. The winter blues hit those in the South, West Coast, and Southwest, too, but at least you can get out (well, earlier this month, those in Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina and Tennessee had to deal with some snow and Florida had a cold snap), while the rest of us have to stay home and deal with cabin fever.
There are people who love winter, snow, cold, the idea of white Christmas. In my opinion, I think the whole concept of having a white Christmas is way overrated! I mean it like this: the same people who want a white Christmas, or at least to see some snow fall from the sky. on Christmas day, they are the same people who want the snow to start melting on December 26 and make sure that the white snow and cold do not return. You can’t have it both ways. You either want to have snow or you don’t want to see it fall when the holiday season is upon us.
What is the winter blues?
Winter time Blues usually takes place in mid to late January when the holidays (Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day) have come and gone; when you have already disarmed your Christmas tree; when you have put away all your Christmas presents; when you haven’t been to the mall since you finished your Christmas shopping; when you have stopped baking Christmas treats (cookies, pies, pies, etc.) once the season is over; when you’ve already been to all the Christmas parties you could possibly attend (who doesn’t love a good Christmas party!); and when you’ve put up all your Christmas decorations (indoors and out, even some people might leave them until spring or even all year long). More or less, once the holidays are over, there’s an emptiness inside of you, and then you start to feel kind of down because of the gray skies, the low temperatures, and the earlier-than-usual (summer time) sunset.
working out
This ranked at the top of almost everyone’s goal list for the new year (note I said “goals” and not “resolutions” because we tend to break our resolutions a few days or weeks into the next year, while Goals are the destinations we want to reach with a feeling of real change, achievement and progress without the idea of failure crossing our minds at any time.) The purpose here is to lose weight or tone your bodies for summer.In this category, then go to your local gym, sign up for a year-long membership (well, if you have the money for it), and get to work. You can build a workout routine in the comfort of your own home. ups, push-ups, jump jacks , jump rope routines, etc. in your training regimen. Just make sure you exercise in moderation without the chance of straining any muscles or breaking any bones. Also, if you enjoy running outside regardless of the weather conditions, go for it all the means, but be careful. If you wear too many clothes while jogging, you will pass out once the exercise routine is over. At the same time, if you go running without covering your skin in cold weather, you will get hypothermia very quickly. So dress warm and comfortably before heading out for a run.
brain stimulation
We are all guilty of this. Whenever we come home from work, school, or any other activity, we turn on the TV, sit on the couch or our favorite chair, and that’s it. Since we only watch TV and do nothing else, sometimes hour after hour our brains can turn to mush from being inactive. You see, our brain is a muscle, and like any other muscle, we have to strengthen it. So how can we do it? Since we can do two things at once, here are some solutions while watching TV, or better yet, doing these activities away from the TV:
1. Read the newspaper or book
It’s important to learn what’s going on in the world because you don’t want to be the person who knows nothing about current events, sports news, and celebrity news. After reading the newspaper, why don’t you pick up a good book and start reading it? In today’s world, everyone is so busy doing something (work, school, other activities, etc.) that we just can’t slow down and relax. One way to relax is to get something to eat, a hot or cold drink, a book, a comfortable place to sit and just read.
2. Taking a class
Whether in the classroom or online, try learning something new. If you really think you’ve seen or heard it all before, you haven’t. By taking a class, it allows you to learn something you’ve never heard of before, and you can use the valuable information in your work or for future reference in your personal life. In addition, you can also learn something outside of the classroom. If there is a specific hobby that you enjoy, then learn as much as you can about that activity. The knowledge you will gain while conducting research will show that you have a serious passion for something (i.e. your hobby, activist work, etc.)
3. Do a crossword puzzle or riddle exercises
By doing the crossword along with the riddle exercise in the newspaper (local or national), you can test how much you really know. The puzzles and exercises are designed to challenge you and determine how smart you really are. The exercises are fun and I highly recommend everyone to try them.
4. Learn a foreign language
If you ever wanted to learn to speak a foreign language, now is the best time to do it. Now, studies have shown that it’s better to learn a new language as a child than as an adult, but that shouldn’t stop you from picking up a book, CD, DVD or MP3 and learning to speak a foreign language. . It takes time and patience to learn a new language, but it will pay off in the long run.
The 4 tips mentioned above are exercises that will stimulate your mind, penetrate your soul, and make you feel good because in every activity, you are 1) Gaining knowledge and 2) Doing something you normally wouldn’t do at all. I want everyone to try at least one or all four of those exercises. You never know, you might like it!
Writing
Did you ever want to write that novel? What about that movie or TV script? Better yet, have you thought about writing songs? Go ahead, do it. The only person that will stop you from doing it is YOU, so go ahead and give it a try! Before you start, do some homework and research how to do it. Once you’re done, the first thing you need to do before someone looks at your work is to register the copyright right away. As a writer, your worst fear is submitting your work to a company before you register the copyright. Then that company would reject your work, edit a few things here and there into your project, put their name on it, and the next day, they’d steal your fame and fortune because your project is a huge success. You could sue, but you will lose the case because there is no documented proof that you copyrighted your work and your project was stolen.
Dance
So you think you can dance, huh? Well, it’s no secret that Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance are always in the top 10 or near the top of the Nielsen TV ratings. Both shows are popular for two reasons: 1) People like to watch other people dance and 2) People love to dance. It’s no mere coincidence that the number of people taking part in ballroom, Latin, and swing dancing has skyrocketed in popularity since both shows debuted on television a few years ago. If you ever wanted to dance, go ahead and try it. If you have two left feet and can’t dance at all, that shouldn’t stop you from seeing what you can do on the dance floor. You can learn to dance with a dance instructor, or better yet, you can bring a partner to help you.
cooking
If you love to cook, but at the same time prepare the same meals every day of the week, why not spice up your usual dinner routine by trying something different? Give it a try by adding spicy and savory dishes to your menu. Learn to cook different types of food such as Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, etc. and you will be surprised how it will turn out. If you’ve never cooked anything before in your life, give it a try and see what happens. Of course, it’s by trial by error, and you’ll make some mistakes along the way and that’s okay. Don’t worry if you mess up, because we’re all human and we’ve all burned a plate or the food didn’t turn out as originally planned. With repetition, creativity, and patience, you can cook anything for anyone at any time. Who knows, you could carve out a career in the kitchen and become the next Paula Deen or Gordon Ramsay.
playing an instrument
As a child or teenager, did you ever play an instrument, or did you think about it and never actually play it? Well, it’s never too late to pick up an instrument and learn to play it. It doesn’t matter if you are 8 or 100 years old, if you are interested in playing music, do it. First, decide what instrument(s) you like to play. Then select a music teacher/instructor and learn music theory (major/minor scales and chords; the importance of time signature; find out how to tell what key a specific song is in; etc.) As a pianist, I know about the ups and downs of playing a instrument. You can never get bored playing an instrument because each music style (Pop, Rock, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Funk, etc.) presents a new challenge, and at the same time, it’s a lot of fun to learn those styles too. If you want to be successful playing an instrument, here are some of my suggestions:
1 time
You don’t have to practice all day to be really good at playing an instrument, especially if you have other obligations in your life at the moment (work, school, etc.) Whenever you have free time, practice as much as possible. The key word here is practice because it doesn’t matter how long you practice, but how many times a week you should practice. If you can’t practice every day, do it 5-6 times a week.
2) Patience
Granted, if you’ve never played an instrument before, you’re going to get frustrated after a while because the song you’re learning right now doesn’t sound the way you want it to. My advice is simple: start slow and steady, and when you feel comfortable, increase the tempo of the song. The most important thing to realize when you start playing an instrument is that you’re not going to be great overnight. It takes a lot of patience and the desire to want to become one of the best players out there right now.
3) essay
As the old adage goes: if you keep doing something over and over again, you’re going to get better each time. The same is true when playing an instrument. You should not only play your favorite instrument on a regular basis, but also learn major and minor scales and chords. Plus, once you master the art of memorizing and playing a song without sheet music in front of you, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true artist.
Get out of the house
When the weather outside is pretty decent and if it’s not too cold, get out of the house as often as you can. While you’re away, have fun, like going to the movies, joining an organization, doing volunteer work, etc. Hibernation might be great if you’re a bear, but cabin fever isn’t the way to go if the outside temperature looks and feels good.
If you’re still feeling down as I finish this article, take heart. Spring isn’t that far away, but at the same time, you just wish it would come fast enough.