What is Blue Monday?
We only started hearing about it a few years ago, but ever since then, wherever we go we’ve not been able to forget that the third Monday in January is “Blue Monday”, supposedly the saddest day on the planet.
We head off to work in the car or the bus thinking it’s a normal Monday, only to be assailed by messages that darken our day assuring us that this will be the worst 24 hours of the year.
This Monday apparently contains all the factors which might depress us:
-The magic of Christmas has gone. Our presents have lost their shiny newness, and everyone in the family has reverted to their ordinary life as visitors from afar go back home.
-On the other hand, we still have a considerable dint in our bank accounts from the festivities and it’s only getting bigger in January. (Even as the end of the month approaches, it’s still looming large…)
-On top of that, the temperature and climate are not generally morale-boosting as we get through the harshest days of winter.
-Of course, March and our spring clothes start to feel closer, but Christmas has left us a few kilos heavier.
-This is the same time that we realise that, yet again, our New Year’s resolutions have remained nothing more than that: resolutions. During the first week we have the excuse of New Year’s parties and the freewheeling holidays to get us out of going to the gym or learning that new language, while in the second week we start off all guns blazing and end up rather less enthusiastic… And in the third week, we open our eyes and realise that we’re not getting anywhere.
According to some it’s a certainty: we look back and we realise to our horror that all (or nearly all) of these things are happening to us too. So in the end, it doesn’t seem such a big deal.
But there’s something good about what you’re told is such a bad day, and it’s that you don’t expect that amazing things could happen like you would in any other 24 hours – so you might decide that you’re going to make them happen! After all, this is just another day when you could start planning a holiday, for instance. Look at it the right way and you’ll see that the coming good weather doesn’t just mean that you have to get rid of the spare tyre you got from all that Christmas food – it means that you’ve got less time to wait to enjoy the summer travels you’ve been dreaming of for half a year.
So it’s all in your hands. How will you spend Blue Monday? 😉