December 22, 2018, and now the days will begin to feel longer as we will experience more sunlight (daylight) now that the winter solstice has just passed. In years past I had allowed the doom of gloom of darker days change my moods without forethought of controlling the emotions that spring from the change in the seasons from warm to cool to cold which often means days were turning into nighttime when just weeks before nighttime was much later!

We still experience 24 hours in each day however our tilt in North America is farthest from the sun in the fall/winter, and for many, we experience a phenomenon that makes us think our days are shorter when it, in fact, is not, but the light of day is! The winter blues for many kicks in before the solstice and hangs on for many for another few months. There is a medical name for this called, SAD, seasonal affective disorder, often felt by the middle-agers as well as the senior population, of which I am one.

Yesterday during a podcast with Candace Pollock, The Intentionality Gurus, I expressed to her that this is the first year I have self-talked myself out of SAD. I have made an intentional choice not to hide and hunker down when the darkness invades my daytime hours. The decision to participate in life is essential for my happiness. You’ve heard the saying, “When mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” But when momma is happy she spreads sunshine:

“Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face.”