10 Tips to Beat the Winter Blues: Tip Number Five

RECONNECT WITH A LOVED ONE

Creación_de_Adán_(Miguel_Ángel)

Recently I was inspired to share 10 tips on how our surroundings might help improve our mood and outlook.  To read more about what inspired me, see my post on LinkedIn Pulse HERE.

My FIRST TIP was about losing your mind in the present.  My SECOND was about letting someone else guide you for a day.  My THIRD ONE encourages you to try something new or something that you haven’t done for a long time, and the FOURTH TIP is about greeting someone you don’t know.

Today’s tip is reconnecting with a loved one.

If you’re anything like me, your life is so busy with work and family that it’s easy to forget you have a partner or children that need more than logistical commands and instructions once in a while.   It’s easy to take certain people for granted and sometimes they may not get the attention and treatment that they deserve.

If you can relate, I recommend making it part of your plan over the holidays to set aside some time for your loved ones.  This could be in the form of a dinner date with your partner, or a night away together.  It could be going to the cinema with one of your children and chat afterwards about the film.  You could take the kids swimming or bowling or simply to their favourite haunt or restaurant, taking the time to engage them in conversation.

Find out from your loved one what has been on their mind recently – school, work, their parents or siblings. How are their dance classes coming along, or who is the most popular kid in class.  What’s the work situation with your partner – who has been supportive and who hasn’t.  Of course you have these conversations daily or, at least, regularly.  But do you actually listen to their replies and engage with them?  If you’re like me, you’ll be guilty of at least once in a while not being as attentive to them as we should be.

So if you can, take the time for that someone who loves you and remind yourself of how and why you loved them in the first place.

Next tip: Find Inspiration.