October Blues

October is here and still no summer! I feel that I could have done with just a few more days of warm sunshine and spending time in the garden.

Everything feels so much easier when it’s warm and the sun is shining, this is a strange time of year when we can dread the next few months of dark evenings and rain and ice and snow.

I must admit spring is my favourite time of year when the air is full of hope and you see the first flowers and bulbs sprouting after the long dark winter. Everything about spring is about moving forward and thinking about all the time you can spend enjoying the outdoors with friends and family, in the garden with a barbeque or with the dog going for a long walk over the hills. Planning a trip to the beach as the weather gets warmer and living life well.

Doesn’t seem as easy to do that in the cold dark days of winter. I’ve decided this year to plan to do this winter better and encourage myself to feel better this year.

The best thing about long dark evenings is snuggling up indoors with a blanket, fluffy socks and some scented candles and maybe the Christmas movie channels.  But there is still a life to be lived outside. Long evenings are an opportunity to catch up with friends on social media and check in and plan visits. To ring family members who live alone and will struggle through the winter nights. Maybe planning to join a club to learn a new skill or to just meet new people.

Become part of a group or association and join in their activities.

Think about self-care, how many of us put ourselves first and take as good a care of ourselves as we do of those we love? Usually we don’t do self-care well, and maybe it’s time to consider this now.

What can I do to care for myself more this winter. What may I need to do to differently to make this winter enjoyable and to feel more energised and in a better frame of mind. What do I enjoy doing? What could I do that is just for me?

Often when we are happier and feeling more energised we can think more clearly and focus on what our priorities are then in turn this can have an impact on those we look after.

If I am eating well, sleeping well and speaking kindly to myself I am then a nicer person to be around and I am more able to provide for my family and friends and the needs of others. Sounds simple you may think but if it is then why don’t we do it?

We tend to put ourselves last and that isn’t helpful in the long term as we run out of energy and can crash and burn out.

I am no Van Gough but I started painting one year and I found I could really relax and lose myself in painting. Painting anything patterns or pictures it wasn’t the subject it was losing myself in it listening to music and just thinking about the colours I was using and the brush I would use and what step was next. Any activity that you enjoy it maybe jigsaws, crafts, cross stitch, baking, song writing, playing music. If you enjoy it take some time to yourself and practice it.

So note to self this year may be: Be kind to myself this winter and look after myself as I would look after others.