While it’s been a rather long, damp and grey Winter this year (!), it’s also been a mild one, with very few frosts. This means that Spring has started much earlier than usual with the blossom, primroses and violets already making a very welcome appearance. With the Equinox last week and a very early Easter next week, it certainly feels as though the year is turning, with Summer just around the corner. 

 

Unfortunately, another less welcome sign of Spring is also starting to make an appearance, despite the best efforts of the pigeons over the Winter (!). Like many other spring flowers it’s also yellow and, for us, always signals the start of the Hayfever season.  

 

Have you guessed what it is? Oilseed rape. 

 

To many people the appearance of the first few yellow flowers, followed by eye wateringly bright yellow fields of flowering rape, marks the start of Spring. To us – and its many sufferers – it marks something slightly different. The start of the Hayfever season... 

As humans we like to keep things simple, dare we say, black or white. Good or bad. Happy or sad. Friend or enemy. 

 

While these labels may be a useful way of giving an instant verdict on something – or a quick, easily understood, summary / description – they’re also fraught with danger. The simplest and most obvious is that once a label is in place, we rarely go back and reconsider whether it is a fair – and true – description of whatever or whomever it is. 

It may seem rather strange to be writing about the “Winter Blues” in March, just when the days are really starting to draw out - and, ironically, with a lovely sunny start to the day here in Suffolk... 

 

Traditionally, January is the month when Doctors expect to see more cases of the Winter Blues. What with all the chickens coming home to roost after Christmas (!), as well as credit card bills and short winter days, it’s really not that surprising. 

 

However, in our experience, February is usually the month when we tend to have more calls from Clients about them. While the timing and number of calls varies a little every year, this year has been rather different, thanks – if that’s the right word (!) – to the seemingly never ending cold, damp and grey Winter weather. Not only have many more Clients have been calling us for help, but are still continuing to do so… 

 

Also known as “Seasonal Affective Disorder”, the Winter Blues are estimated to affect around 20% of adults here in the UK every Winter. While it may sound like something of a joke to those not affected – particularly as it tends to be referred to by its initials, “SAD” – its impact is very real and can be debilitating for those concerned, as well as those around them. 

This week we thought we’d give you a little conundrum, as well as a new perspective on your comfort zone. And, why it isn’t quite as comfortable as you thought it was. 

 

But, before we go any further, let’s see what our trusty dictionary has to say about comfort zones: 

 

“A situation where one feels safe or at ease OR a settled method of working that requires little effort and yields only barely acceptable results.” 

 

Which perfectly sums up what comfort zones are all about. Safety, security and certainty. Knowing exactly where we are and what’s going to happen. 

 

It’s what keeps people doing the same things over and over again. Or, from another perspective, in a rut…