Firstly, it is completely made up. 100%. Brought about by a travel company and is probably just used to sell more summer holidays. So, there's your first reason to completely get out of the Blue Monday mindset. Choose to ignore it.
If you still need something to brighten your day though, here's a few good news stories to take your mind off the negative Nancies on the news at the moment! Push your mind onto the positives of the time!
When the pandemic hit, Save the children started a camel library to help children that have been effected by school closures in Ethiopia. This meant they still had access to books while staying home. It's amazing to know that they still have this access and I 100% think that one of those camels could be a children's cartoon character.
Image from The Happy Newspaper
Black rhino numbers are slowly growing which is just always nice to hear. Black rhino's came close to extinction in the 90s and so hearing that hard work is actually paying off is a great thing. On a similar note, Kenya's elephant population has now doubled in the past 20 years!
2020 was also a record year for renewable energy as almost half of the UK's electricity was green in the first 3 months of 2020! Plus it looks like the demand for oil is on the decrease which is amazing news for our environment.
Scotland have also recently announced that free period products will now be across the country! Great news and hopefully an example to other countries.
Also, coming back to the pandemic, over 2 million people have received the vaccine in the UK so far. Hearing that number really makes it feel like this pandemic could be starting to come to and end.
If you need more good news, the Happy Newspaper is a great account to follow! Cute illustrations and uplifting stories - what else do you need?
Images from The Happy Newspaper
If you're bored of looking at the same four walls or feeling trapped while in lockdown - you are not alone. We didn't think it was possible to day dream about holidays more than we already did, but here we are. If you're in need of a change of scenery I have the perfect website for you. Head over to Window-Swap you will not regret it. It shows you the view out of a strangers window somewhere in the world and it's just lovely. It's also very addictive. My favourite so far has been some snowy scenery in Chamonix, France, but this view from Finland was also pretty peaceful.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that Blue Monday is complete rubbish and is actually exactly the same as every other day of the year. Don't subscribe to it! Search for the silver lining in every situation and keep your mind focussed on those positives as much as you can. We're all living through a historical event right now so it's completely understandable if things get a bit much at times - and that counts on any day of the week, not just Mondays.
If you're looking for mental health advice from people that actually know what they're talking about you can visit Mind by clicking here or head over to NHS website by clicking here. Calm and headspace are also great apps to help with relaxation, insomnia and meditation techniques. 10/10 recommend Headspace sleep casts. You've got this!
What will you be doing to prove Blue Monday wrong?
Bethan ROR xx
