Sunshine on my shoulders...makes me happy!

I've been a little down the past couple of days. The holidays were great, I enjoyed some time off, and as you can see from the pics and videos, we've been having fun. But I've been sad. More accurately, I think I have SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder. It's dark when we get to work and when we go home. It gets light around 8am and dark again by 430. And it's cold all the time. I get down and lethargic and tend to struggle a lot with "why do I feel like this, I don't want to, so I should just STOP IT!"
So I was looking today and here are a few things I found:
From CNN.com article: It might seems like curious advice, but for many sufferers the effects of SAD are greatly exacerbated by the fact that they just can't understand why they feel so darned miserable, and blame themselves for their grumpiness rather than a genuine mood disorder. (see?)
Thanks, however, to the pioneering work of U.S. doctor Norman E. Rosenthal -- who coined the term SAD in 1984 -- it is now widely acknowledged that winter depression has a sound medical basis, involving changes in the body's mood centers brought on by shorter daylight hours and a lack of sunlight. If anyone accuses you of being a surly misanthrope between the months of November to February, you can justify yourself with words to the effect of: "Sorry, but I'm suffering from a biochemical imbalance of my hypothalamus triggered by a melatonin deficiency in my pineal gland. So get off my back!"

I like this approach! :)

Also, In the UK, according to the SAD Association, 500,000 people experience some form of winter depression, while in Sweden doctors have estimated that 20 percent of the population -- almost 2 million people -- are affected. One of the earliest descriptions of SAD comes from the Sixth Century chronicler Jordanes who, in his Origin and Deeds of the Goths, describes the excessively gloomy winter disposition of the inhabitants of Scandza, or Scandanavia.

"they" also say that it could be hereditary, and that people of Scandinavian decent are more likely to suffer from it. Hhhmmm…I look Scandanavian, right?

Mostly what I have learned is that I don't like when it is cloudy, dark, gloomy and cold all the time, it gets me down. It's not as though I have clinical depression, just a little bit of the "winter blues".

BUT TODAY...THE SUN WAS out! and it was out all day!!! I had it streaming through the window from 10-12 and went to the mall with one of my coworkers at lunch! It was wonderful!! Just a glimpse of what's to come with the Spring!! :)