Letter from the Editor - Oct 2019
Octoberitis
Octoberitis
Liewe Leser
As jy ewe skielik sukkel om soggens vrolik uit die bed te spring en nie meer so heel positief voel soos altyd nie...As jy op ‘n weeksoggend lus voel om ‘n hele plak sjokolade alleen op te eet, nie wil werk nie en net Netflix wil kyk: Dan ly jy heel waarskynlik aan die veelbesproke Oktoberitis: hierdie “af-voel gevoel” wat jou kan beetpak so drie maande voor Kersfees.Behalwe vir meer oefen, genoeg slaap, alkohol-vermyding, terapie en gesond eet moet ‘n mens ook soms heel drastiese aanpassings maak, naamlik die vermyding van sekere snellers. Vra jouself af: “Watter situasies of groep mense is die groot oorsaak van my depressiewe gedagtes?” Soms is dit nodig om iets te vermy om sodoende jou gelukkige self terug te vind. Dis nou die aangewese tyd om hierdie nare Oktoberitis-monster met ons positiewe ingesteldheid die doodskoot te gee. Kom ons tel sommer weer ons seëninge.
In die woorde van Roy T. Bennett, die skryfer van “The Light in the Heart”: “More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” Geniet Oktober – kom ons hou ons kenne hoog tot óns reën kom!
Dear Reader
Do you have trouble these days rising from your bed with a spring in your step and have you lost your positive outlook? Could you easily spend a whole workday guzzling slab after slab of chocolate while watching Netflix? If yes, then you probably have that Octoberitis malady – that feeling of being blue and down that tends to overtake us about three months before Christmas.What’s to be done? More exercise, sufficient sleep, less alcohol, healthy meals and therapy may help, but sometimes drastic changes are needed, like avoiding certain causative triggers.
Ponder the question: “Which situations or groups of people make me feel so down and out?” Avoiding such triggers may be your answer to regaining your former, happy self. Now is the time to shrug off this nasty Octoberitis monster. Let us count our blessings; name them one by one.
In the words of Roy T. Bennett, the author of The Light in the Heart: “More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” Enjoy October - let’s keep our chins up until it is time for the soothing, cleansing rain in our own country!
KEEP IN MIND:
“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) (NIV).
Gerty Basson
