Are you facing any of following situations or something similar?

Returning To Work Returning To Education Taking on an additional marriage Deciding to have children after a break Finding yourself facing world alone

When we come up against challenges and obstacles in our lives we generally do one of three things. We fight against it, we run away from it, or we embrace it head on. Using our friend rabbit as an example again, consider rabbit’s particular behaviour patterns when venturing outside its burrow. There are those that sit right on edge of burrow ready for an immediate bolt down hole again, those that perhaps venture a little further afield, and those who really know what adventure is. Where do you fit? What are you doing with your existence right now?

If you are going through any of above situations what are you doing about them? How are you handling them? Are you just sitting on edge of your safety zone read to bolt home again? Or are you perhaps just cautiously dabbling in an effort to see how “safe” it is? Or are you of more adventurous type and have thrown caution to wind and dived headlong into sea of life? Which of these do you think is “right” path to take? Maybe you can think of an alternative path.

My wife makes very good stew. It doesn`t consist of simply one ingredient. If it did, it would not be anywhere near as appetizing. It does not consist of just two vegetables. You will find a whole range of vegetables swimming around in there fighting for space amongst meat. (My mouth is fair watering just thinking about it!) When it comes to embarking on your future, there is something to be learned from stew recipe. You could attempt a stew with just one vegetable, but it would be pretty bland and boring. You could be just a little more adventurous with it, but it still wouldn`t be enough to give it that special something. No, you really need to add some of everything to give it that special taste.

Is your recipe whole, or are you simply on edge, ready to bolt down your hole again? Have you perhaps ventured a little way out, but at slightest opposition ready to dive for safety of your burrow? Or are you out there just waiting for moment to come when you launch out into that unfamiliar territory?

I would like to think that you are considerably smarter than even smartest of rabbits! This being case, you can handle a little self examination and some planning before you set off on your great adventure.

What have you done in preparation for your great adventure? We examined briefly and in a very basic way, preparations necessary for a space craft to attempt a landing on earth. We talked about need for everything to be prepared and in order before attempt is made. So, do you have everything possible prepared and in order prior to your attempt at landing that new job, new partner, new qualification, new baby and so forth?

As nice as it would be, you cannot be prepared for every little eventuality that happens along, but you certainly can for main events. All you need to do right now, is provide solid answers to a few questions:

1)Do I really want this in my life? 2)What steps do I need to take to make this happen? 3)What would I do if it really happened? How would I handle it? How would I feel? (Okay, so I squeezed a few questions into that one!) 4)Are your “ingredients” complete?

In my ebook “Take Control of Your Life”, one of chapters is centered on “Living In The Now”. Aside from attempting to change our concept of time, (you have to read it to believe it!), it points out that preparation is key to meeting eventualities successfully. If you really want to leave your “hole”, then before you set foot to floor, thoroughly examine path ahead and do as much as you can to prepare for what may lie ahead. Your success may depend on it!

Enjoy your future – it`s up to you what road you take.

1. Plan at least three social activities each month 2. Expose yourself to as much bright light as possible 3. Stay or become physically active through exercise 4. Have good support systems in place 5. Buy an indoor light box which gives 10,000 Lux natural full spectrum lighting 6. Start a natural or prescribed antidepressant four weeks prior to beginning of mid-fall and terminate use four weeks following end of winter. Talk to your family doctor about this.

For those of you who already have a depression diagnosis of one kind or another, and you know you dip deeper into depression in fall and winter, this proactive approach is absolutely vital for you. And, I have some additional ideas for you.

1. Adjust dosages of your antidepressants at beginning and end of fall/winter seasons 2. Add 3 new stress management skills to your skill base 3. Exercise! 4. You should own and use a light box, even in summer months. 5. Monitor depression using a simple daily mood chart scale of 1-10, with 10 being severe depression. Commit to a "planned ahead" action you will definitely take (like seeing your family doctor) if your rating is over 6, three or more days in one week. 6. Make a list of past symptoms - a trigger list if you will. And share it with one other person.

A light box should be used very specifically, and there are a few concerns about using light boxes for seasonal affective disorder.

Light boxes work similar to description above. If more light goes through retinas, on to biological clock, and through nervous system to Pineal Gland, production of Melatonin will slow. The result will be elevated mood.

If you have any type of eye problems involving retina you must consult your eye specialist first, before using a light box. These types of eye problems include macular degeneration, retinitis, pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy.

The minimum amount of time to use a light box for a positive effect is 30-60 minutes. Generally first positive response reported from sufferers of seasonal affective disorder is increased energy levels.

If you oversleep and struggle with getting up in morning best time to use your light box is in morning. And, I know you don't want to hear this, but best way to use light box is to get up 30 minutes early and use it immediately for 30 minutes.

If you tend to nod off early in evening, only take wake up too early in morning and cannot get back to sleep best time to use light box would be in evening.

Be careful if your diagnosis is Bipolar Disorder. You can still use a light box, and probably should, but there is some risk that you could go into a hypomanic or manic phase. The best time for Bipolar folks to use light box is in mid-afternoon. It is also strongly suggested that you stay on, or use a mood stabilizer medication in combination with light box.

Seasonal affective disorder is a very real and debilitating disorder. I suspect it will show up in a future edition of diagnostic guide for psychotherapy profession. You can make a remarkable difference in quality of your fall and winter seasons by taking action now. Please help yourself out, you deserve to feel good year 'round!

To your best autumn and winter season ever!