What Not To Do When It's 40-Below And You've Got The Blues

With minus 40 degree temperatures--albeit with windchill--it's hard not to get the blues and languish in your home and pine after some kind of thaw. Even your dog is getting tired of being stuck inside all day with only the shortest walks. 

Here's a list of things not to do when you've got the blues and it's forty-below outside:

1. Don't go outside: Obvious eh? Well, you'd be surprised. On the coldest days, it's not uncommon for me to see people out for a 'leisurely walk', or, just as pathetic, joggers out there wear only a layer of clothing with all the fervour that comes with fighting yourself, the weather, or whatever else. Best to regulate time outside to going from house to vehicle to destination to vehicle to house again.

2. Don't walk your dog: Think about walking through ice and snow in your bare feet for 25 minutes in 40-below temperatures; now look at your feet in your imagination upon returning home. What do they look like? Think you'll be feeling them within the next 48 hours? Think it might be best to see a doctor? How do you think your dog feels? They may not tell you, but they experience tremendous cold on their feet. Some trainers go so far as to advise not to take your dog for a walk in minus-10 and below--it's just not good for them. 

3. Don't drink more alcohol: Just because you've got the blues, doesn't mean you should slake them with greater doses of alcohol. As we know, alcohol is a depressant, so drinking more of it is only going to give you more blues once the inebriation has worn off. 

4. Don't mess with medication: If you're on a prescription for anti-depressants, or for other kinds of emotional issues, now's probably not the time to forget taking them, or trying some die-hard plan for getting off them, like cold-turkey. In times of winter blues, you want to keep things routine, and not add on more stress and bio-chemical changes to your body.

5. Don't overeat: When we're feeling bad, food can make us feel good--but not if we're overeating. We can gain weight, experience health problems, and just get more and more down. Try to stick to a routine of moderate eating. Not to say that a night in watching movies with a plate of chocolate cake is a catastrophe--we all need to enjoy ourselves; but when it turns to the entire cake, it's time to re-evaluate.

6. Don't over-dose on on-line shopping: Shopping can give you a buzz like anything else; and with online shopping, it's easy to spend hours from your couch glutting yourself on any kind of product imaginable; and who doesn't like receiving a little present from Canada Post to your front door or mail box? But if you're doing it compulsively to fight winter, you could find yourself in financial trouble. You'll need to stay in control of your emotions and your index finger on the mouse button. 

7. Don't lose hope: This is the most important one of the bunch. When you lose hope, when you lose a will to find meaning in your life, you are capable of hurting yourself. Don't lose hope--spring will arrive, the sun will shine, the winter will give way to viridescent grass and burgeoning flowers. That day will come--maybe not soon enough, but it will come. Hold on; be of courage; don't lose hope.