I've learned there are three things you don't discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.

– Charles Schultz (aka Linus, from It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown)

Trick or Treat, smell my feet,
Give me something good to eat !!!

-Source Unknown

It's official! As of 2 a.m. Sunday morning, October 29th, most of the U.S. is back on Standard Time. For many of us, this event feels like both a trick and a treat. The trick is that we lose a precious hour of daylight in the afternoon when the daylight hours are already getting too short. The treat is that we get to sleep an extra hour on this one Sunday morning of the year.

Whenever you have an occasion to reset your clock for any reason, you might find it helpful to bookmark and visit this link to the web site for The Official U.S. Time.

Did you know that starting next year, in the Spring of 2007, Daylight Saving Time will be extended in the United States, to begin earlier in the Spring and last a little later in the Fall. For trick-or-treaters, and their parents, this means an extra hour of light on Halloween afternoon - a "yea" for some and a "boo" for others!

Where did the Halloween tradition of Trick-or-Treat come from? Click on the link below to learn more about it.

Thinking about Fall and Halloween and the tradition of Trick-or-Treat led me to thinking about how we treat ourselves and whether or not we treat ourselves well enough.

This is the beginning of a challenging season for most people. Summer is definitely over, and Fall brings increased activities and pressures in both our personal and professional lives. In northern climates, the days are getting shorter and colder; the loss of bright sunny days is keenly felt by many. This contributes to the stress of the season. And, the countdown to the December holiday season has begun. For me, the days between now and Christmas feel rather like the metaphor of pushing the camel through the eye of the needle.

In our country, the almost-mandated Halloween treat is candy. We have equated "treats" with candy. Yet, for most people - both children and adults - this is not a healthy thing. Candy may feel like a treat at the time, but what about the tricks it plays on our bodies, both now and later, causing a range of health problems from cavities to diabetes.

Nothing I write here is likely to change the prevailing tradition for kids. But perhaps you can think of some other, healthier, ways to treat yourself this season - Halloween and beyond. Here are some alternatives to think about:

1. Take advantage of the early darkness to get a full 8 hours of good sleep.
2. Get out in the sunshine whenever possible. Whether you work or not, take a brisk walk at noontime.
3. If you suffer from sunlight deprivation, buy yourself a light box and use it at least 30 minutes a day.
4. Look into taking extra Vitamin D from now until April.
5. Take a long, hot, soaking bubble bath, in candlelight, while listening to your favorite music.
6. Trade in your holiday sweets for delicious ripe fruits and an assortment of nuts.
7. Enjoy parties and gatherings with friends that are easy on the budget, stress load, and calories. Play games, sing, dance, laugh a lot. Eat light, healthy, easy-to-fix meals or snacks. Shift the emphasis from food (and drink) to fun and relaxation.
8. Pamper yourself. Treat yourself to a massage, facial, manicure, or pedicure.
9. Share the load. Whether raking leaves, cooking for company, or doing some other task or errand, invite (the operative word here) others to pitch in and make it into a fun time with family or friends.
10. Take time just for YOU, and do something you really enjoy. Perhaps read a book, see a movie, listen to a comedy tape, exercise or play a sport, meditate, or nap.

What else could you add to this list? And what alternatives might you come up with for your kids this Halloween?

Have you ever been in a position where you have had a big decision to make, and found yourself stuck and unable to make it? We’re talking about the kind of decision that might lead to the kind of change that would alter your life in big, and largely unforeseeable, ways....

Perhaps you were faced with an array of choices and couldn't narrow them down to THE one? Or perhaps you were faced with two strongly compelling choices pulling on you in equal but opposite directions, and you felt immobilized in an inner tug of war? Or perhaps no choice is all that compelling and you cannot find your direction at all?

The net result is that you find yourself unable to make a move in any direction. You begin to shut down. You lose energy and all momentum for change. You just drift, directionless, letting the currents take you where they will. People close to you begin to worry and to give you labels like depressed, lazy, drifter.

The following is excerpted from a longer Blog article.

How are people like roses? We all start out as the budding rose, preparing to bloom in all our splendor. And some of us do just that. Sadly, many of us do not. Some get picked early or nipped in the bud by frost. And some buds never do open; they just wither on the stem without ever blooming.

Do some people, like the withered, tightly-closed rosebud in the vase on my desk, hold onto their petals so fiercely, for fear of losing them, that they never allow themselves their moment in the sun?

So, here's the choice then: Would you rather bloom fully, knowing that you would eventually lose all your petals, or hold on tightly as a rosebud, full of promise, but never reaching your full potential? Isn't that a choice we all have to make? Maybe more than once? Maybe daily?

What's your choice?

Many of you know that on June 12th of 2006 I began an experiment that I thought might help me to transition to a new phase in both my personal and professional life. The challenge of this year- long "Letting-Go Experiment" is to release from my life one thing for each calendar day, or 365 things by June 12, 2007. The "thing" could be a material item, large or small, including things like subscriptions or pounds of body weight. Or it could be an intangible, such as a behavior, habit, practice, attitude, or limiting belief.

As of the end of October, I will be four months and 19 days into this experiment. Early in this fourth month, I did a heavy-duty cleanout of my closet. Out of this came some useful tips for clearing out clothing clutter. These are shared in my Blog article Letting Go - Clearing the Clothes Closet.