Positivitea Cup Twenty: Overcoming the Gloomy Fall Blues

When I think of fall, I think of the golden sun, crisp leaves in hues of orange and red, a slight chill that requires a cute light jacket. The fall I've been experiencing has, instead, been a rollercoaster ride of fifty degree weather that spikes to seventy in the middle of the week, only to go back to being chilly. It feels like I haven't seen the sun in days and the dreary rainy weather doesn't do anything to make it any better. I never thought I would experience any sort of seasonal mood change. Fall is my favorite season, I shouldn't be feeling differently throughout it. I didn't ask for this! All I wanted was a brisk and sunny autumn  so I could romp around in my rust colored cape and call it a day.

I'm not sure the actual science behind it or this is just something I've decided is a thing in my head, but I'm fully convinced that waking up and going through your morning when it's dark and gloomy is just a horrible way to start the day. It's even worse when the lack of sunshine continues and you're just staring out into a sky full of grey clouds with no movement. It's like the entire sky is cloaked with smoke and it's jus a dull, dull way to meander through the day. There's nothing like an overcast and gloomy day to make you want to just go home, crawl under the covers and not resurface until you're hungry, only to crawl deeper under the covers once your belly is full. Grey skies completely crush any ounce of motivation in you, I'm fully convinced.

I hate that I've felt exhausted this entire fall season. It's been constant up and down with temperature. It's dark when I leave for classes in the morning now. It's dark when I come home from work. It's dark during the day because the sunshine has, conveniently, decided that it's no longer frequenting Cleveland and that we're all just SOL for the time being. I need my sunshine fix! I need the golden rays and sunrises and pink skies and to be able to look out the window at work and not want to fall on the floor and take a quick snooze because the weather outside just makes you want to give up.

But I also refuse to let this weather bring me down. Sometimes you just have to fight your instinct to react accordingly to the weather and be upbeat and motivated no matter what. I feel like it's in our nature to mimic the weather, letting it affect your mood and how you think. Sometimes you just have to be your own ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Easier said than done, but there's a chance you just might have to put a little pep into your own step rather than allowing the environment around you to do it for you. If I can't wake up to sunshine (which would most likely be impossible, anyways, considering I wake up at five in the morning sometimes), then I just have to be my own sunshine. Or perhaps I'll just apply more than enough highlighter to my cheekbones that when it reflects light off of my skin, it'll seem like rays of sunshine are radiating from my face.

Eat some cake for breakfast. Listen to your favorite song to dance to in the morning, even if your body tells you that it's too early to dance or lip-sync. Put on a lipstick that you've always wanted to wear but have been too afraid to even if you love the color. Have an extra cup of coffee or tea or orange juice. Look at pictures of puppies in Halloween costumes. Have another muffin. Compliment somebody on their outfit or makeup or their cool hat (I don't know...). Be your own ray of sunshine!