In many places around the world the winter months are called “Gloomy”. You know the kind of day when it is very cloudy and it gets darker as the day goes on. There is a chill in the air and there may be a bone chilling wind, snow or pelting ice hitting your car, your home and your heart. Many people suffer from Seasonal Affected Disorder which means they have low levels of Melatonin which is a sleep hormone, Serotonin which is created in the brain and affects mood, and their Circadian Rhythm is disrupted with the long hours of darkness. When we pile on the challenges of everyday life, along with a heavy dose of doom and gloom from every media source and those we talk to, you do indeed have a gloomy outside and a gloomy inside.
This is what I have noticed over several decades of volunteer service to my local communities: Each of us seems to be “enduring the present, waiting for the future”. Let me say that again: “We are enduring the present, waiting for the future”. My friend the future is happening right now. If we keep moving the starting line to “….when this then….”, or “….once the kids are…..”, or “….next year….”, or…….do you see what I mean? The future will never get to you.
Here’s another example of what I am talking about: when we first “taste” something which we know is not good for us, or it goes against our belief system, or we are dared to do something we have started the ball rolling. The next time this happens we “tolerate” it. Over time this “toleration” becomes a way of life for us so that we do not bat an eye at it. Finally the third step in completion is that we “indulge” in it freely. This does affect us mentally, spiritually and changes our core inside of us. Following this path will take each and every one of us further than we ever wanted to go. The result is gloom.
As a society we have proceeded down another path. We have passed from “morality” to “immorality” to “amorality”. This did not happen overnight, it has been continuously happening forever using that model of “taste”, “tolerate”, “indulge”. Many of us hit rock bottom and have a wake up call and that’s when we are made aware of our slippery slope. Until then we continuously “taste”, “tolerate”, and “indulge” looking for the next thing to help lift us up and out of the gloom.
When we do this in business, we become a business community which is having a credibility problem, an ethical problem, a bankrupt business, blaming everyone else and looking for someone to come and rescue the business, because the business did not have certain things in place. The same thing holds true for those at home and in the personal side of life. We go much further than we expect to go.
Next time, how to get out of the gloom. What are you tolerating and indulging in?