Take the long view

Every year around this time, the winter weather starts to really get to me. I miss the sun and the great outdoors. I let minor annoyances get under my skin. Everyone else seems to be hibernating, so my social opportunities also begin to feel very limited. I start to really crave a reprieve from it all.

At this juncture there are two ways of dealing with it. One method is to find every small joy you can in the world. You skip the gym and hang out on the couch watching trashy television. Your diet shifts to hearty soups and complex carbohydrates. You're more likely to eat dessert. A quick drink after work becomes an all-evening affair so you don't have to go back into the cold without your "liquid blanket".

If you ever find yourself in this tailspin, take a step back and take the long view. When the winter ends and everyone takes off their heavy jackets and baggy pants, do you want to look like you've been eating chips on the coach or that you've been secretly getting a hot body all winter long. When you're catching up with the friends you lost touch with over the winter, do you want to talk about politics and the latest scientific breakthroughs, or who won American Idol?

Think of it this way: if you're already unhappy, what harm can it cause to do something productive along the way? I'm not diminishing the benefits of having gelato or watching reality TV as a small indulgence every now and then, but when you take the long view, you'll find yourself much happier being able to say you accomplished something during those lull periods of your life: you learned how to make a killer banana bread, you built a website you've wanted to make for years, you actually lost 10 pounds when all your friends gained 10. And it turns out, that sense of accomplishment (not to mention maintaining an active lifestyle) will actually make you happier and help you through the winter gloom.

Fight the blues! Get off the couch and go do something.