Is this it?

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself - "Is this it?"  Have you wondered is there more to life than the daily grind?  More than the 9-5 slog and working all the hours you have just to get more stuff?  When is the last time you stopped to smell the flowers?  or gaze into the sky? or the ocean?

Life seems to be one headlong rush in the "rat race".  There's another thought - If it really is a rat race, and you win - What's the prize?  Is there a prize?  or will you just be left wondering "Is that it?"

In almost every career nowadays there's a constant need to continually update your skill set, evaluate your career path and keep yourself up to date with the latest developments in your chosen field.  You are expected to continually improve yourself as an employee / partner / associate - whatever your position is.  If you take time off due to illness, you are expected to "catch up"when you return - not just on the work that's been left undone - but on the changes in the company / personnel / developments in your industry.

Isn't it funny then that we don't oblige ourselves to keep ourselves up to date in our own lives?  When is the last time you were enlisted in a half day seminar in self-care, or re-evaluating your life goals.  Is what you're doing now what you dreamed of doing when you were a teenager?  Back in your schooldays did you dream that you'd be doing exactly what you're doing now?

Have all the dreams and hopes you left school with been fulfilled?  Is your life full to overflowing with precious moments and memories that bring you joy?  When you get up out of bed every day, are you delighted to be alive?  Do you look forward to each new day?  Are you disappointed that the days are ending when bed-time comes around? Or are you stuck on the treadmill of eveyday hum drum life like most of the world's population?

So many people go through the drudge of every day, almost on automatic pilot.  They function - not live.  Each day bleeds into the next in a monotonous cycle of work - home - sleep - work  etc.  We go to our jobs because we have to feed he family, pay the mortgage and exist on this little blue planet we call home.  It is a rare moment when we stop and ask ourselves why we're doing it. 

Maybe this pause fom the madness that we're calling a recession will give us room to think.  With more people being let go, and jobs and finances dwindling, maybe we'll re-evaluate if we really need all these "things".  Perhaps instead of focussing on the new car we were planning, or the new extension, or the boob job or whatever it is that is driving us, we'll focus on the people in our lives.  You know them - those ones who get up in the morning and leave the house with you. The ones who share meals with you and who snuggle up behind you on the cold winter evenings.

It's a perfect opportunity to reconnect with the important people in our lives.  Visit your parents, relatives and friends.  Not because they're having a party on their new deck and you want to show off your latest fashions, or because they haven't seen your new car yet, but because youe haven't seen them in a while.  Because it's nice to just sit and have a cup of tea with a friend you haven't seen in a while.  Go for a walk with your partner on the beach or in the mountains.  Reconnect with nature.  Spend some time playing with your children - not on the playstation or X-box, but outside, with a ball or a bike.  Look around you at the beauty we live in and remember how easy it is to forget about all the natural beauty we have.

There's on old Cree Indian prophesy that says:

"Only after the last tree has been cut down…

the last river has been poisoned…

the last fish caught,

only then will you find

that money cannot be eaten."

Hallowe'en and the impending year end

Did you know that in ancient celtic times, hallowe'en was effectively New Years Eve.  The ancient Celts celebrated a festival called "Samhain" (pronounced 'sow-en') which marked the end of the summer and the begining of the dark, cold winter period.  It was a time of the year that was often associated with death and the Celts believed that the souls of the dead roamed the earth on this night. 

Many of today's hallowe'en traditions date back to then.  To comemorate the end of the summer and the harvets the celts built huge bonfires and wore costumes of animal skins and heads.  They thought the presece of som many other-worldly spirits made it easier for their priests to predict the future.  After the festival, they re-lit their own hearth fires, which were extinguished earlier in the day, from the sacred bonfire to protect them through the winter.

After the Romans conquered most of the Celtic lands, two of their festivals were combined into the Samhain festival.  These were "Feralia" - when the Romans commemorated the passing of the dead and then they had a day to celebrate the  goddess of fruit and trees "Pomona".  The symbol of Pomona was the apple and the traditional hallowe'en game of "bobbing" for apples probably comes from the time when this festival was incorporated into the Samhain festival.

In later times, as Christianity spread throughout the world, many of the old Celtic festivals were "rebranded" to use a modern jargon into Christian Festivals.  In the 7th Century Pope Boniface VI designated Novemver 1st as a day to honour all saints and martyrs. In the Roman Catholic Faith, this is now know as "All Hallow's Day". (From middle English meaning all saints day).  The night before became known as All Hallow's Eve, subsequently shortened to Hallowe'en.

Our current tradition of "Trick-or-Treating" probably dates back to an ancient english practice.  During the All Hallows parades and festivities, poor people would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the families dead.  This was encouraged by the Christian church as a replacement for leaving out food and wine for roaming spirits. Modern pumpkin lanterns are thought to stem from an ancient Celtic tradition of placing their ancestors skulls outside the door to protect them from roaming spirits.

In the Celtic calendar Samhain was officially the start of the new year.  It was a time of deliberate misrule - rather like the Roman festival "Saturnalia".  The cattle were brough in form the fields and even "Na Fianna" - Irelands warrior elite, gave up battle until "Bealtain". (pronounced 'Be-owl-ten') In the Irish Language Bealtaine (promounced 'Be-owl-ten-a') is the month of May.  Bealtain marked the start of the summer pastoral season.  

For many, the last bank holiday of the year before Christmas, signals the start of the wet, cold, miserable and dark time of the year before spring and summer.  Many people feel a little gloomy and down as the long bright days of summer yield to long dark evenings and chilly days.  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a depressive mood disorder that can affect people at this time of the year.  The onset of autumn and winter bring a low mood and a general lack of energy.  It's harder to get out of bed in the morning and even more difficult to gear yourself up for taking your normal regular walks and exercise.

For many, this is a time of reviewing the year that is ending.  The approach of Christmas and all the commercial expense and worry that it brings can add to the gloom.  In the current economic climate this will be more of a worry for people than in recent years.  In Ireland, over 170,000 people have joined the ranks of the unemployed.  While money is tighter, then demands on us to provide for our family's doesn't decrease.  Even before Hallowe'en was celebrated, the shops and TV Channels are advertising the latest "must have's" for Christmas. 

The only growth industry being reported in the Irish media is the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).  More and more people are flocking to use this service as financial pressures mount.  All of this stress can add to the low mood that you are feeling at this time of the year.  So how do we change it?

Treatment for SAD can take  a number of forms.  SAD is, by it's nature, a depressive disorder or episode.  Anyone who is experiencing this should consult their GP.  Your doctor can treat it in a number ofways.  He may prescribe medication of an anti depressive nature.   A lot of people benefit from this, especially if the symptoms are severe.  There is also "light therapy" (phototherapy), where you sit a few fet away from special lights designed to have the same effect as natural sunlight.    Because it mimic's natural light, this therap appears to have an effect on the brains chemistry that is linked to mood and there are very few known side-effects.

Psychotherpay is another option to treat SAD. It can help you identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviours that may be making you feel worse.  A qualified psychotherapist can offer you options that you may not have explored.  You may have put your low mood down to "winter blues", but with a litle help, you don't have to live with these feelings through the winter. 

To revert back to the points made at the begining, this time of the year for the celts was the begining of the new year.  A lot of people are currently "waiting for this year to be over". Well in  the Celtic Calendar, it is.  So maybe it's time to make aome "new year's resolutions".  You can make those changes in yourself and your life that you have been thinking about.  There are a number of low cost counselling options available to help you through these tough times. 

The holiday season is approaching and if you start to make those changes now, you can be in a much better place to celebrate with your family and friends.     To quote the late Irish author, John O'Donoghue from his poem "For A New Begining":

"In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This begining has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge."