Turn thisWith the freezing cold weather this week, is anyone else missing summer?
There was ice on my windscreen on tuesday morning and its been hard to get out of bed or shower. Imagine being able to turn summer on at will.

In winter, the traditional answer “G’day, how’s it going?” changes from “Good, thanks; and you?” to “Pretty tired” or “Bit sick” or “Alright, I suppose.” We get sick, days get shorter and darker, clothing gets more restrictive, and the great outdoors is something we face only in short burst to and from the car. We clearly need chearing up.Someone better at surviving the cold months can write a survival guide: I’m here to tell you how to escape them.

So here are 5 ways to bring back summer:

1. Listen to summer music. For me, Jack Johnson immediately whisks away the weariness of winter. The world seems brighter, more friendly, almost even warmer. What would you listen to in the car on the way to the beach? Put it on the stereo! Maybe for you it’s The Beach Boys or some fast paced jazz.

2. Turn up your car air-con. full blast. When you go for a drive, don’t wear warm clothes: turn the heat up full instead. If you do this properly, you may need to open one or more windows. Soak up the warmth, bath in the sunlight, feel the wind in your hair, and pretend! You’d be surprised at how easy it is to pretend its summer… especially if this is combined with step 1.

3. Eat summer food: milkshakes, fruit, smoothies, and anything else you savour in summer. In winter we tend to drink hot drinks and eat hot, bread-like foods. You can often buy much of the same foods as in summer, so give it a try. Who knows, maybe you’ve just been missing that flavour.

4. Go outside! We often think it will be too cold, but if you pick your time and stay moving you won’t even notice. The more time the better, but especially between 10am and 2pm. Do some exercise to warm up – then you won’t need to wear ‘winter woolies’ either. Getting the blood pumping and some fresh air could just be the energy boost you need.

5. Go to bed earlier. If you complain that the days are too short in winter, but wake up at 7:30am every day, you’ve already missed an hour of daylight! Hit the sack an hour earlier and you’ll find the day stretches on like, well, summer.

Bonus #6: Try to have conversations that aren’t based on how tired everyone is, or how bad the latest bug going around is, or even how cold it is. Its unlikely to make you feel better. There are other things to talk about in winter. Like… like… um….

Do you have any other tricks or suggestions (other than moving to the tropics or waiting for global warming)? Or should I just learn to love the cold?

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