Do the Seasons Change Your Mood?

Photo credit: Julian Labelle of Unsplash.com

Do the Seasons Change Your Mood?

I have a friend, and fabulous fellow speaker, Holly Duckworth, who sends me ideas for my blog when she sees something interesting. This week she sent me a link to an NY Times article about how fall begins to affect our mood and ability to build mindfulness and resilience. I’ll provide the link, but you must subscribe to read it.

The gist of the article was about a lot of folks who find themselves longing for longer and warmer days and the positivity that comes with them. It goes on with the belief that you can use this time to strengthen your resolve with tenacity and resilience…and I couldn’t agree more.

Whether in business or your personal life, your mood is affected by daylight unless you have the ability to go within and find and your positive inner voice.  You know, the one that helps you get up in the morning, fires up your desires to produce and be resilient in the face of all the negativity permeating our world today.

I gave a virtual speech to a local chamber of commerce today and one of my slides has the following quote, “The University of Munich found evidence that a positive mood strengthens our ability to see options…when faced with difficult situations, your mood might be the biggest predictor of how resilient you might be.” Isn’t that so true? I’m much more resilient when I’m in a good mood than when I’m not.

I don’t know about you but I’m a cold weather fan…give me sweaters and cool temperatures any day. I love summer because of my bicycling, but I love my fall and winter more. I’m an avid skier and the urge to hit the slopes is already growing. I broke both of my ankles in a skiing accident last December, so I’m looking at new boots to more securely attach me to my skis. Yes, I know at almost 75 I’m supposed to be scaling back my activities, but that’s not going to happen so new boots it is!

When we have something to look forward to we become more resilient and energized. I was really looking forward to giving my speech today and was enthusiastic with my virtual crowd. That energy kept me running all the rest of my day.

Whether it’s a sporting activity, learning how to knit, writing a new novel you can get ready for fall and winter with a lot of enthusiasm to elevate your mood and increase your chances of being happy and productive.

Remember to take a TRIP for a lifetime, not a trip of a lifetime!

In the end, it’s just one man’s opinion…mine.

Keith……