You Do The Math

Feeling down, dismal or dispirited today? How about plain old bummed-out? Allegedly, most of us are. But fear not; there is a silver lining to our sullen situation. Our doleful days of despondency have apparently hit their zenith. Which means, things can only get better! So don't worry if you feel like you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. After all, it is January 22: the most unhappy day of the year! Cliff Arnall, a British health psychologist has proven it. Really. Here's the formula he devised to calculate "Blue Monday": 1/8W+(D-d)3/8xTQMxNA

I know, it might as well be Canadian to me too. Luckily, the Edmonton Journal broke it down for us: "Arnall factored in the dreariness of the (W)eather, the arrival of maxed-out Christmas bills or (D)ebt, minus monthly salary (d), (T)ime elapsed since Christmas and the failure to keep a New Year's resolution or to (Q)uit a bad habit, low (M)otivational levels and the need to take action (NA). He came up with Jan. 24, or the Monday closest to Jan. 24, since Monday is the

most disliked day of the week."

So hang in there! But if the blue funk starts to overcome you, I have a cure for what ails ya. Trust me, even the meanest sourpuss can't hold back the joyousness that THIS site supplies!

Oh, and by the by: Mr. A. was commissioned by the travel industry to come up with this theorem. Evidently, a lot of folks book travel plans when they're feeling down, because a nice vacation gives them something to look forward too. It's sweet of the travel people to point out we should be feeling really bad today.