Battling Winter Blues

The winter of 2010 was a very hard winter for Floridians, especially in North Florida and the panhandle area. We've had weeks of frigid temperatures, seemingly endless periods of cold, wet, gray days that have left many of us with a case of winter time blues. I myself had to fight that "funk" frequently over the past few months. For some people, it's more than just a case of the winter time blues or cabin fever; they have a more serious condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. People suffering from this disorder often fall into a deep depression during the winter months. They may even need to seek medical attention to find a way to deal with their situation. For most of us though, we muddle through and there are things we can do to keep those winter blues at bay. It may be a bit late but here are some of the things I do to try to make those gray days more bearable, I'm sure we're not quite finished with winter just yet.

• Open up the blinds or curtains and let in as much natural light as possible.
  
• Keep candles burning with pleasant scents, my favorites are apple cinnamon or vanilla
  
• If you have a fireplace, use it, light a fire, there's nothing like sitting around a warm fire
  
• Winter is a good time to enjoy fresh homemade soups
  
• Make hot chocolate and curl up under a warm blanket with a good book
  
• Get together with friends, get out of the house
  
• Put on some Jimmy Buffet and dream about being in the Florida Keys where it's always warm.
  
• Winter is a good time to catch up on indoor projects, cleaning out closets and drawers are biggies for me; use those dreary days to accomplish something inside so when the weather is nice, you can enjoy doing those outdoor activities.

• Try to keep in mind, we live in Florida, our winters are shorter and we'll be enjoying spring weather very soon; we haven't had it half as bad as those who live up north trying to dig their way out of several feet of snow.
  

Hang in there friends, spring is coming and before you know it, summer will be here and we'll all be complaining about the heat and wishing for cooler weather.