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The coming of spring brings with it a sense of renewal. Leaves and blossoms bud on once-bare trees, the sun returns from behind gray skies and the winter chill leaves the air. Suddenly your mood lifts, your energy returns and you have a new-found interest in life. Everything seems possible, as if a veil of gloom has been lifted.

What most people describe as the “winter blues” is actually clinically defined as SAD or “Seasonal Affective Disorder”. SAD is a depressive mood disorder brought on by the seasonal variations in light. As the days become shorter, darker and gloomier with the onset of winter, symptoms of depression can manifest.

The Seasonal Affective Disorder Association or SADA estimates that approximately 500,000 people suffer from SAD every winter. December, January and February appear to be the most difficult months.

The lack of sunshine and increasingly gloomy days can sometimes cause a chemical imbalance in the hypothalamus of the brain, which may trigger SAD. Some research suggests that a lack of the brain chemical serotonin can cause symptoms of depression. Other research indicates a link to the sleep-related hormone melatonin.

Although the exact chemical changes taking place in the brain during a bout with SAD are still unclear, symptoms can be serious and should not be taken lightly.

Signs and symptoms of SAD can include:

1. Feelings of depression during the fall or winter months.

2. Changes in sleep patterns — difficulty staying awake, oversleeping, or even early morning wakening or disturbed sleep.

3. Feelings of fatigue or difficulty participating in normal routines.

4. Irritability, tension and low tolerance for stress.

5. A disappearance of depressive symptoms during the spring and summer months.

6. Seasonal depressive episodes outnumber non-seasonal episodes.

7. Cravings for sweet and/or starchy foods, which can lead to weight gain.

There are ways to combat the effects of seasonal affective disorder. For severe SAD symptoms, treatment may include antidepressant medication.

But if you are inclined toward more natural remedies without the risk of possible side effects, phototherapy or bright light therapy has proven effective. So effective that, according to the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association, 85% of those diagnosed with SAD are helped by bright light therapy.

Common household lighting is not sufficiently bright to have a positive effect on SAD. Specially designed full-spectrum lighting with up to ten times the brightness of regular indoor light is recommended.

Of course, nothing beats the real thing. So during the winter, if the sun peaks out from behind gray clouds, go outdoors to catch as much of its healing light as possible. Add that to regular exercise and a healthy diet, and the winter blues may become easier to manage.

If you’re a smart business owner or manager, you know that to gain new customers and keep existing ones, your employees must continuously provide exceptional customer service.

Unfortunately, getting that point across to your employees, who tend to lapse into a coma at the start of formal customer service training, can be challenging.

Because the use of humor often helps to make training more interesting (and therefore more effective), let’s borrow a bit from late-night funny man David Letterman. Share the following Top 10 list with your employees to give them a chuckle–and sneak in a little customer service training at the same time!

“Top 10 Things You Should NEVER Do When Striving to Provide Exceptional Customer Service”

10. Post a sign proclaiming “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!”

9. Laugh hysterically when a customer asks if you can provide requested information by the end of the day.

8. Put a customer’s letter in the bottom of your In Box (otherwise known as the Black Hole).

7. Think about your dream vacation in Bakersfield while a customer is explaining what he/she needs.

6. Set a new land speed record heading out the back door when you spot a customer approaching with an “I have a problem” look on his/her face.

5. Do your famous grizzly bear impersonation when a customer interrupts your real job by asking for help.

4. Say “I’m working on that right now” when a customer calls to ask about the status of his/her request–while you’re reading a tabloid story about celebrities who give their babies weird names.

3. Put your customer’s call on hold while you head home for the weekend.

2. Use the following nonverbal cues while expressing your desire to help: sticking out your tongue, rolling your eyes, shaking your fist, pounding your head on the desk.

And the number-one thing you should NEVER do when striving to provide exceptional customer service…

1. Answer every question with “It beats the hell out of me” or “You’ve mistaken me for someone who cares” or “Why are you still here?” or “The dog ate my brain.”

Here’s one more important customer service tip you should share with your employees: everyone they deal with is a customer. This includes their coworkers, their subordinates, and their superiors (including you), as well as the people who buy your company’s products or services. You can easily adapt the above Top 10 list to internal customer service tips by substituting the word “coworker” for “customer.”

Have you ever noticed that certain people are always being asked to “M.C.” the company staff party or their friend’s wedding? They have funny comments to make about various topics during a conversation. They make you see things in ways that you never imagined; ways that make you see the funny side of life. They’re usually the life of the party. They make you laugh, or at least chuckle inside.

Being a humorous person allows you establish some relationships better and faster than other people. You will become more outgoing in a crowd and may be able to set people at ease in various situations.

If you aspire to be this type of person, then you most likely have a mad streak in your personality that is making you stoop low enough to actually learn how to be funny. You’re the perfect candidate for the task.

While humor is an art form that seems to develop from within, it’s definitely something that can also be learned. However, it takes a lot of demented practice sessions and some real-life trial and error to master it. At first, you may see a lot of blank faces but keep persisting. The more you practice this art, the more natural you will be. Funny gestures, facial expressions, and comments will become second nature.

Being funny though is not the enough. Knowing when to be funny is paramount, and this comes only with experience – and maybe from a few weird looks from others. Obviously there are times that are appropriate and times that are not.

Humor takes on different faces in different settings and groups. There is a style of humor for wedding receptions, for large and small groups, for staff rooms, parties, friends, church, individuals, committee meetings, and even seemingly “staunch” boardroom meetings.

While the actual “learning the art” of humor is too big to fit this small article, here are ten keys to great humor:

1) Be bold. There’s nothing that kills humor more than being shy. If you are using discretion, there’s room for humor almost anywhere, including your Bible study group or corporate boardroom.

2) Humor is, in part, about telling people what they want hear but would never actually say. For example, very few people would talk about light-hearted public bathroom embarrassments. It is amazing how far you can go, even at a church function, and remain “Family Rated”.

3) Learn from others. Know someone who’s really funny? Watch them carefully. Also, check out the sitcoms on TV. There, you will find both well scripted and improvised humor, including exaggerated facial expressions and body movements that reinforce the words or theme being used.

Sitcoms are great at turning life into something surreal and funny. They take minute details of life and blow them up until you can see how funny they are. Ever watched Mr. Bean?

4) Use a mirror. If you’re going to “M.C.” an event, or do anything in public, don’t be afraid to use a mirror to practice with. Many humorous movie stars use this technique. Even if you’re a school bus driver just making faces for the little kids in the bus parked in front of you, you’ll be amazed at how a mirror at home can help you get some laughs and some big cheesy grins from the kids.

5) Use discretion. Use appropriate humor for the appropriate crowd. Although you can stretch the border at a church function, like talking about boys turning their underwear inside out at camp to get another couples of days use out of them, you can’t use off-color language etc.

6) Take a fresh look at life situations. For example, what would a man do if his pants got wet in a “bad” spot after leaning on a sink counter in a public washroom? How would he get over the embarrassment? Hmm… How about using the hot air dryer meant for drying your hands? What would he do if someone walked in while he was drying them?

7) Stare at an object for ten minutes and see how many things you can use it for, or what misfit situations you can get into with it. What can you do with a pair of rubber gloves other than keep your hands dry while you wash dishes etc. with them? Or how about the retractable cup holder that you that you tried to use on your computer? You know, the one that you press the button and it comes out. It’s marked “CD” for “Cup Dispenser”.

8) Things that don’t fit together. A male pastor was asked to say grace at an all-women’s award banquet. After being introduced to say grace, he got up to the microphone and said, “I am totally honored to be here and to accept this award.” The ladies burst into laughter. He continued, “When I got the call yesterday, I thought it was just to say grace or something.” During the laughter, he pretended to listen to someone in his ear piece tell him that he was just called to say grace. Relaying this conversation out loud to the audience he became an instant “hit” in a very short period of time.

That is an example of something that doesn’t fit. A male would never receive an award at a woman’s award banquet, and yes he was just called to say grace and the audience obviously knew that.

9) Learn to imitate other personalities and language accents. Learn how to act like a nerd or speak like an East Indian or Scottish person. Even using an accent for a one-sentence answer to someone’s question can get a laugh.

10) Place yourself in situations that make you come out of your shell. Take chances and experiment.

It takes fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown and if you deliver honest and sincere humor to people, you’ll be placing smiles not only on faces but also in hearts.

You can be funny.