Well – it’s the third Monday of January – BLUE MONDAY – the most depressing day of the year – or so we are led to believe. If we buy into the story, today is the day we look back to the now-distant joys of Christmas and/or look forward to the equally-distant next pay cheque. Of course, by falling prey to this, we miss the present moment and become victim to the power of self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, by holding expectations, we start behaving in a way that matches our expectations.
By thinking today is the most depressing day of the year, we might start paying more attention to the negative aspects of our lives and focusing on what we want, as opposed to what we have.
It is part of human nature to seek out patterns, in an attempt to gain a sense of control over our lives, but if we seek certainty in that which is uncertain, we are bound to suffer.
When we realise that we create reality in our own minds, we grant ourselves great power to shape our experience – as Shakespeare wrote:-
“there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
If we believe that it must be a Blue Monday because we think we are somehow emotionally “in debt” after overindulging over Christmas, we are much more likely to focus on being cold and miserable and to see our New Year’s resolutions as insurmountable obstacles rather than the inspirational challenges which they appeared to be just 3 weeks ago.
Magic Monday
Since Blue Monday can affect our thinking and emotions so much, let’s turn it into Magic Monday and truly appreciate it. Instead of focusing on all that is going badly on the day, be mindful of and open to all the good things that happen to and around you. Get the day off to a great start by doing 10 minutes of meditation before going to work. Be grateful and kind.
“CHANGE HOW YOU SEE AND SEE HOW YOU CHANGE!”