Beat The Holiday Blues - Or At Least Butter Them

How are the holidays going for you?  Do you feel depressed?  Did your family remind you more of a Tim Burton film than a warm fuzzy Disney flick?  Did eating butter drenched carbohydrates out of a birds ass lower your self esteem -- and expand your waistline?

Maybe you're feeling a bit blue after Thanksgiving because your family's Simon Cowell style criticism cut you like a carving knife.  Or, maybe you don't have a family you're currently speaking to - and your Thanksgiving dinner was the Denny's turkey plate at a table for one.

Whatever the reason for your holiday blues - there's hope.

I always feel a bit down this time of year.  I would look forward to Chanukah, if I could figure out when it is --- or how to spell it.  (Thank you, spell checker.)

Unless I make a holiday plan to raise my spirits - and my serotonin levels - they're both doomed to drop.

So here's my plan, and my commitment; I hope you'll join me:

If you're going to do something bad (alcohol, drugs, or huge quantities of s'mores) -- don't deny yourself.  Instead, earn it by doing something that you can be proud of.  For me, that's exercising.  I hate it, but it does make me feel good after, because I reward myself for doing it. 

(Meaning -- I'm jogging for a joint, and doing push ups for pastry.)

At the end of the day, we all need to look back and feel good about something we did.  So before you turn to your vices for comfort, do that "good" thing you can be proud of - whatever that is.

Perhaps for you it's making that one uncomfortable phone call you've been putting off, finally cleaning out that closet, or cooking healthy meals for a day.

Or, maybe it's something even more in the holiday spirit -- like volunteering to help someone, buying groceries for a friend who's unemployed, or even just using that spare quarter to feed somebody else's parking meter.

Tell me... what do you do that makes you feel good about yourself?  The idea you share might wind up being someone else's good deed for the holidays! Let me know on my blog here.