Blue Monday

Have you heard about Blue Monday? Up until today, I thought Blue Monday was simply one of my favorite candy bars made right here in Kentucky. And it is. But turns out a few years ago, a company decided to do a publicity campaign by naming a Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year. I read about it in the newspaper today, so of course, went out googling to see what I could find. And as with everything, lots of info is waiting out there in the internet world. There's even an actual formula. It's weather (not so hot - literally - for many of us in January) plus debt from overspending. Add to that the time since Christmas and the time when we are facing the fact that we've failed to keep our New Year's resolutions. Then divide it all by low motivational levels and the feeling that you ought to be doing something about all that and you get a day when all is gray in our lives. Sadness reigns and we are encouraged to muddle through the most depressing day of the year. 

At any rate, this campaign has caught our attention and now we're trying to figure out exactly which Monday in January is actually that most depressing one. Some say the third Monday or tomorrow. Some say the first Monday. Some are too depressed to say anything. If only we all had a Blue Monday candy bar and a sunny window and a great book to read, then blue Monday would be a thing of the past. That sunny window is actually what the psychologists say we should seek out to chase away the winter blues and everybody knows a little chocolate can be a spirit lifter. 

By the way, the same man credited with figuring out a January Monday is the most depressing day of the year, also decided on the happiest day of the year. That, he claims, falls generally in June between the 21st and the 24th. Those can be some pretty nice days of summer with plentiful sunshine and they sell those chocolate bars all year long. 

So how do you feel about it? Do Mondays make you blue? Is tomorrow the most depressing day of the year? I would think not since many people are having a school and work holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Maybe they (whoever they are) should pick a different Monday.   

 "You can't change what happened last week, but you can learn from it and choose happiness this week." ~Anton K. Kressnig

I'm for that! Let's choose happiness this week. Thanks for reading. By the way, starting in February I'm changing my blog schedule a bit. I'll just post here once a week and move Jocie's Hollyhill blog post to Wednesdays. After all, I've got a book to write.