Are YOU afraid of the dark?
I am currently entering an extremely productive spell of activity both on and off the blockchain as I have 14 days away from work and believe me I have been looking forward to them for so long.
You see I do not get a set number of holidays/days off each year to take when I wish as ALL of my holidays are built in to my year long work rota. If they were not, trust me when I tell you I would certainly have used some of my holidays over the last couple of weeks.
None of that matters now though as my two magical weeks away from work and here and I am ecstatic!
Here's the thing though, now that I am winding down from the most hectic spell of the work year, I feel as though I have taken a huge relaxing breath, physically, spiritually and mentally and can suddenly smell the roses again, does that make sense? Because of this shift in my psyche, I became very aware of something tonight...
It got dark quickly and much earlier than I expected it to...
I know what you are thinking... I am 48 next week, surely I understand how the seasons work by now!!!
Uhm... Well yes as a matter of fact I do BUT sometimes things like this creep up on us at times when we are super busy and we don't notice till 'bang, when did that happen?' I found myself exclaiming this earlier, with a shocked expression emblazoned across my face.
It was the height of Summer, I turned around and here we are pulling out the old faithful jumpers from the back of the closet and using the heating at home again.
What this really got me thinking of though is when I do return to work in the closing days of September, I can hear the conversations that will be taking place in the breakroom already...
Some people will be focusing on the fact it is getting incredibly cold, incredibly quickly again. Others will be complaining that we don't get to see the daylight anymore on our work-cycle, it will be dark when we go to work before 7am and dark when we leave for home at 7pm. This scenario is exactly the same but turned on it's head when we work nightshifts...
The word depressing will be used ad nauseam and almost everybody will be lamenting the death of another Summer, truth be told the Summer was pretty poor anyway, rain... Rain... RAIN... Then thoughts will predictably turn to the rapidly shrinking remainder of 2020 as the pages fall from the calendar at an alarming rate.
Next will come The C word!!!
CHRISTMAS!!!
Then people will start getting flustered about finances, money snow, turkey, gifts, trees and bloody Mariah Carey. You can guess where we will be at next, fuelled by the media no doubt...
Will it be a lockdown Christmas?
Is Santa in quarantine?
Can Reindeer catch Covid?
Are toilet roll and pasta legitimate Christmas gifts now we have experienced queuing for them?
Last, but not least people will begin talking about how they are gonna lose weight, quit smoking and get another job In 2021 I KNOW all of this will happen within the first hour of us returning to work after 14 days off
I have one MASSIVE problem with all of this. Even though October 1st feels like the back end of the year, the steady decline toward a new year, resolutions and shedding those mince pie pounds it is NOT. Businesses call that section of the year, the 'final quarter' Right?
You ain't willing to write off a whole quarter of a frikkin' year, right?
I view it in a very different way. In this spell of the year, due to the cold and the dark nights, there are a lot more opportunities to stay indoors and get cozied up and spend time with the family. I see it also as a spectacular spell for blogging and setting myself up for those 2021 goals.
I will be spending some time selling on eBay and learning skills that will serve me well online for years to come. This is a time of immense possibility. Do not let a couple of extra hours of darkness fake you out and kid you that it's time to crawl in to a cave and hibernate for the Winter.
Spend this time wisely and by the time the Sunny days come back round again you should be in an incredible position, hopefully having achieved much more than those people who think it is time to draw the curtains on the year with months left to run.
One thing I know to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt is that in terms of a strategy and a mindset for growth, ramping up your efforts at the exact time many others are caught napping is an undeniable recipe for massive success.
Think about it. If you finish the year strongly like a warrior who knows exactly what they want to achieve, you will be a force to be reckoned with by the time you hit the ground running at the birth of 2021!
Although if 2020 is anything to go by, I would be taking nothing for granted about what 2021 has in store... I know you know what I mean...
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are appreciated!
Keep taking the time to connect with each-other both here and in the so-called real world and try and look after each-other, because as you already know...
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Will you be allowed bonfire night? One of the great things about autumn and winter approaching for me, was looking forward to each of the festivities as they came, to help get you through the long cold nights. Here they all fall in summer instead, but winters don't last long anyway.
I just head from a friend that the UK looks to be tightening up restrictions again.
@tipu curate
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I’m not afraid of the dark, but my boy always has wanted to sleep with the light on - and now I am so accustomed to it I find it weird to sleep in the dark.
I am not afraid of the dark but my daughter is, so I have included in my routine, walks at night close to nature so that she feels protected
Perhaps in America there will be a few less bell ringers standing out side the stores hoping to get a donation for this cause r that cause, and most of the money going directly into their own pockets. Maybe one less Santa for the kids to sit on and have expensive pictures taken of just to lighten the pockets of the shoppers a little and to ad to Santa's pockets.
I actually like christmas despite the above, they are just a couple of annoying things about it. Seasonal changes are always quick to come, we know they are just around the corner all except for Spring. We bitch and moan and grumble throughout all of winter with barely a thought toward Spring, and before we know it Spring has sprung, and blossomed into summer, and we missed it.
Winter the season that equalizes shift workers with non shift workers, where we get to hear the complaints of its dark on the drive to work, it dark on the drive home from work.
It's funny that you wrote October 1st feels like the back end of the year because october 1st being my birth date is precisely each year the first day of a new year for me...LoL
personally I pacify with all the phases of the year, the brightest and the darkest, the hot and the cold, the holidays, the celebrations, the back-to-school, the weekends alone, the weekends together, people you don't see often, people you see way too much ... I always try to find what I can enjoy in every situation, and believe me, there is always something to enjoy, and this allows me not to ask the conditions around me to change and be perfect, which I have no power over, moreover,
to focus on the one thing that I have mastered and which is my reaction to the weather, to things, to people ... then I choose to turn to what I can appreciate : in winter I appreciate the the softness and warmth of a soft blanket, the comfort of a cup of hot chocolate ..... in summer I enjoy a refreshing shower, I taste fresh fruit and frozen preparations, I walk barefoot, I take advantage of morning freshness ...
I wish you in advance a wonderful birthday ! 😊
An utterly wonderful response my friend. Thank you.
You have it absolutely correct of course ((but, you didn't need me to tell you that lol.)) some things can even be enjoyed in more tan one way. For instance you mentioned a steaming mug of hot chocolate, I enjoy this a lot BUT I also enjoy the crispness of the morning, and indeed the nighttime,too, it always feels so clean and almost as if the air is being purified.
Occasionally life throws really important, big things in our path. . . Why waste time wishing life away, wishing for another season or another life, that is about as effective as shouting at the sky, telling it to stop raining.
From what I know about you my friend, your outlook on life does not surprise me one bit!
Thank you for the birthday wishes my friend, wishing you the same, it seems, we both have a brand new year ahead :)