Blue Monday is touted as the gloomiest day of the year and lands annually on the third Monday of January. Freezing weather, post-holiday shopping consequences and beating yourself up for breaking New Year resolutions are the most common excuses for feeling “down and out in Beverly Hills” or wherever you may be.

Here are 3 easy ways to add some sunshine into your moody blues so that you feel better and turn yourself into a Happy Green Machine!

Take a Breath:

Close your eyes, and take a deep breath through the nose and release through the mouth, relaxing your shoulders, knees and belly in the exhale. Take another deep breath in, and release all the stories and the drama. Take one more breath and realize that no matter what is going on, you are alive with the ability to laugh, smile, think, feel, love, care, create and innovate, and that there is more than enough breath to go around.

Take a Bite of My Gratitude Sandwich:

Start your day with 8 specific things you are grateful for. The late wonderful Dr. Wayne Dyer says 5 but I am a recovering overachiever, and 8 is a lucky number in Chinese meaning Good Fortune so I say 8. The bottom of the bun is 8 appreciations for who you are so you don’t end the day recounting all the reasons for your moody blues but instead remember how wonderful you are and how wonderful life is.

Take a GOOD Look at Yourself and Go LOVE Yourself:

The most common lyrics when singing the blues is the chorus “I am not good enough”, “I’m never going to get it right”, and “who loves me”. The bad habit of being hard on yourself can turn Blue Monday into Blue Everyday if we don’t learn to approve of ourselves, to care about ourselves, to stop self-hatred and self-loathing because in the end; how can anyone approve of you when you can’t approve of yourself? Stop looking for love in all the wrong places and ask yourself, “Have I done the best that I can with the time that I have and the resources I have?” For most of us the answer is YES!

CELEBRATE YOU and choose not to lose one more day to the moody blues. You can do anything you put your mind and heart to… claim your birthright to Happiness… one Monday at a time.

Dr. Marissa is an Organizational Psychologist, Inspirational Speaker, Network TV Commentator, Award-winning Bestselling Author of “8 Ways to Happiness from Wherever You Are” and the Celebrity Host of an award winning syndicated show, “Take My Advice, I’m Not Using It: Get Balanced with Dr. Marissa” 9 years running on NBC and iHeart Radio.

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