It used to be a gloomy, brooding holiday today...

Well, over here in Germany, the day reserved for penance and prayer (called "Buß- und Bettag" in German) has been turned into a normal work day in 1995, to relieve the employers of the increased cost of the newly introduced long-term care insurance.

One holiday had to go, and the federal parliament decided that it's this one...

OK, that's one less day of a gloomy, brooding sort... reflecting on sins past and praying really befits a normally dark month like November, doesn't it? After all, there already are three holidays this month, all centered around the dead and deceased: All's Hallows, the Sunday before Advent commemorating the dead (called "Totensonntag" - The Dead's Sunday - in German) and the National Day of Mourning...

No wonder that many people feel glum and sad in November. Not only is it a month of typically grey, clammy and cold weather, with its thick fog and most often grey skies, when days never seem to be fully alight at all, but it's also filled with morbid ceremonial days, when we're traditionally supposed to be sad and depressive.

I would love to have the old times back, when autumn was mainly the time for harvest, celebrating the fruit of the fields and forests, giving thanks to Mother Nature for Her gifts to us.

And the recently very bright, mild and sunny weather has done its best to dispel the dull and grey reputation of this month. It feels, as if this year Mother Nature is actively fighting to make it a happier time.

And although She is blowing thin clouds over the sky this morning - looking as if she took a thin veil, torn it to wispy shreds and now sends them flying over the clear, dark sky - I am looking forward to this day unfolding... feeling a slightly chilly breeze blowing over my nude figure, I powered up once again in my usual nuddhist way, gazing at the start twinkling between the gaps in the clouds (the brightest ones shining through them, too), inhaling the cool morning air (4°C/39F), bringing good vibes, while exhaling and expelling any stress or worries from the past day with the breath leaving my body. Although, there wasn't much to expel, really, since the last days were easy and soothing to my mind and spirit - despite being very busy at the office.

My recipe of just not allowing stress and hectic to affect me and to concentrate on the things making me happy is working just fine. And charging myself with positive energy and good vibes the way I do helps me a lot, indeed.

Therefore, even the forecast of possible rain today is not bringing me down... on the contrary, I'm looking forward to puddles to splash my bare feet in.