It’s Blue Monday

Snoopy/Charles M. Schulz

 
Today is the third Monday in January. It’s referred to as Blue Monday, a term coined by Dr. Cliff Arnall for the most depressing day of the year. It was based on a mathematical formula that he came up with years ago while working as a tutor at Cardiff University.

The formula considers factors that can trigger the blues for you and me at this time of the year.

One of them is the weather. I look out the window and there’s nothing much to celebrate about. It’s freezing and gloomy outside which doesn’t bode well with the cold I’m dealing with right now.

Then there’s the realization that the holidays are over along with the festive cheer and the temporary high that they provide.

As things get back to normal, we come face to face with the same personal issues and challenges that we have before.

To make matters worse, we continue to live in a highly polarized society with no end in sight. Trump remains the president obsessing with the $5.7 funding for a southern border wall that many experts consider unnecessary. He has forced a partial government shutdown in order to get what he wants leaving 800,000 federal workers working without pay or furloughed from their jobs.

Since the Blue Monday theory has achieved some kind of notoriety, scientists have looked into it and came up with the conclusion that it’s “nonsensical” and “farcical.” Feeling the blues can happen on any day of the year.

Still, people will tend to swear by it including those who believe in astrology, numerology and the like.

For the record, Dr. Arnall leaves his theory to stand on its own. He did say in an interview with The Independent newspaper said that it was “never his intention to make the day sound negative”, but rather “to inspire people to take action and make bold life decisions”.

Dr. Cliff Arnall

 
He’s now on a mission to prevent from further spreading the self-fulfilling negativity that Blue Monday has unleased.

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