Here’s How To Beat The Post-Labor Day Blues…

…Get ready for some hunting!

I had to laugh yesterday when the Wall Street Journal featured an article in their Personal Journal section entitled “The Post-Labor Day Letdown.”   My first reaction was…”are you serious!”   Why get into a funk just because the summer season is quickly winding down?

Here’s a couple interesting quotes from that piece:

“There are few studies or statistics on the end-of-summer malaise, but therapists, career coaches—even marriage counselors—report an increase in people seeking help in early fall…

…A big component is what some researchers dub Post Vacation Syndrome (PVS), characterized by a combination of irritability, anxiety, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, and a feeling of emptiness that lasts up to a few weeks after returning to work….”

After reading the article I had to remind myself that a good portion of our population does not enjoy hunting and the outdoors the same way most of my friends do.   In fact, for many people when the summer ends it means a long time ahead for any significant, relaxing fun in their lives.   Moreover, with the year quickly winding down it means more stress with back-to-school activities, heavier workloads in the career…and lest we not forget, the unavoidable stress of the holidays soon approaching.

Oh, sure, a good portion of the population who doesn’t hunt has other reasons to look forward to fall.   No doubt there are many non-hunters who thrive on this time of the year for their “other” favorite pastime—football.   And I certainly consider myself among those people.

DSC08900Still, it hearkens back to the point that this WSJ article was not written for me nor for any of my friends.   If hunting or trapping is your passion…than you have no need for psychiatric services once summer is over.   Quite the contrary, I have often considered my deer stand much more comfortable than some counselor’s couch.   A hell of a lot cheaper, too!

Now, don’t get me wrong there is a lot to be said about taking summertime vacations.   But the truth is, at least for me, they just don’t have a lasting affect on me helping to recharge my life batteries.   They feel good at the moment, but usually by the time to go home I am already dreading stepping back into my “real” life once again.

Not so with my fall outdoor passions.   Whereas a summer vacation might be a self-reward, of sorts, my fall outdoor passions are simply part of my necessary existence.   I dream about the fall season all year long…and then once the months of September, October and November roll around I simply attempt to live out those dreams with vigor.

Yes, I do feel sorry for folks who have a pathetic existence because they have never experienced the many various outdoor sporting pleasures of the fall season.   Maybe it behooves us as sportsmen to seek out those “moody” people during this time of the year and invite them along on the next dove hunt or deer scouting adventure.   Besides introducing more people to our now shrinking ranks, the positive mental benefits of chasing away the post-summertime blues would be considerable for many.

Admittedly, there are times I take my outdoor passions a bit for granted, after all…I don’t know a different way to exist during this splendid season of the year.   But when you read how other people are troubled by a time of the year that makes my heart and soul sing with energy…well, it makes me damn glad once again I call myself a hunter and a trapper.

©2011 Jim Braaten.  All Rights Reserved.  No Reproduction without Prior Permission.