Tweet

The Scariest Hallowe'en Ever

Written by: Les Brown

Article Overview: What's more frightening, fantasy or reality? Is it any wonder that people naturally prefer to get scared by their fantasies? But, it's the realities that are out to get you!

The Scariest Hallowe'en Ever

Saturday was the first (and the biggest) costume party of the Halloween season around here. I went as the scariest thing I could think of: the New York Stock Exchange. Sadly, I didn't win the 'Scariest Costume' prize . . . I lost out to a store-bought devil. I'm not sure whether this particular devil was scarier because he was a product of the world economy (probably manufactured in China) or because he was a biblically-inspired manifestation of 'creatures from the id' (as in the 1956 sci-fi/horror film, Forbidden Planet). Either way, as a student of human nature, I found it fascinating that people would be more frightened of a manifestation of their own subconscious mythology than of the reality of losing their financial security for the foreseeable future. As Alice was wont to exclaim: "Curiouser and curiouser!"

The more I've been able to delve into the deeper regions of the midlife transition to find the motivator that supplies all the necessary psychic energy to power midlife crises in both women and men, I keep coming up with the same inexhaustible and eternally-renewable energy source: fear. Because this primordial fear of losing out (. . . on what? on life? . . . ), most people would rather deal with fantasy horror, like slasher movies and the scare-yourself-silly Stephen King genre than get down there where the real threats to your relationships, your career, and your personal health and well-being lie.

I'm no psychologist (but I am a fairly astute observer), still, I wonder why it's easier for some people (especially men) to deal with the grossest kinds of external threats than it is to sit down and tackle the real fears that are gnawing at your insides. Maybe it's because you know that you can shut your eyes at any time, or walk out of the theater, or turn the TV off if it gets too intense. You can't really do that with the monsters under the bed that have taken up residence in your subconscious mind. Isn't it just like when you were a very little kid? The adults could come in and turn the light on; you could see that the monsters were gone from where you thought they were; and the second the lights went back off and the adult left the room, you'd know it: they're baaaaaack!

Some people say that they love to be scared silly. Are you one of those? Here's a challenge: get quiet; go deep inside; look for what you're most afraid of with your primary relationship; now look again and see if you can find what most scares you about the economy, your career, and your financial condition; finally, go looking for yourself as a really, really old man or woman. BOO! There's scary for you! If you play those videos in your mind, you can't close your eyes, you can't turn it off, you can't walk away, you can't even just turn the lights on. So why not pretend that a costume-shop devil is the scariest thing in your world today?

Mastering the art of the midlife transition means focusing on what's really going on inside you. It means fearlessly bringing all those bogey-men out into the sunlight and taking a serious look at them. It means acknowledging yourself as exactly who you are, where you are, and where you're headed. It means taking responsibility for accepting yourself in your current condition, or for changing things so that your future will be different from your past. Nobody's going to tell you the right thing to do (although very many people are going to try). The training wheels are off, and, regardless of how much good advice you've received, it's time to steer your life on your own. Advice — even advice from acknowledged experts — always has one major drawback, you know: the advice-giver doesn't have to live with the consequences: you do.

It's nearly Hallowe'en, but the scary things that you see out there on the streets can't hurt you. It's the scary things you don't see hiding unacknowledged in the depths of your heart that can get you. It's midlife, and now its time to go after the monsters under your bed. After all, the devil probably won't get you this year . . . but the Dow Jones just might!

Related Articles
  Have A Healthy Halloween
  The Spooky Rise Of Halloween
  Halloween At Your Place of Employment
  Halloween Howl Seven by Author Paige Agnew
  Scary!

Article Tags: astute observer, costume party, external threats, fantasy horror, financial security, forbidden planet, halloween season, horror film, little kid, midlife transition, monsters under the bed, new york stock, new york stock exchange, psychic energy, renewable energy source, sci fi, slasher movies, subconscious mind, world economy, york stock exchange



Related Forum Posts
Re: Mother's Day and small business - I have a friend, when he finally focuses, he spends his entire year getting ready for Halloween related stuff. One time I heard about these seasonal stuff and I did experiment using Google Adwords, selling books related ... I can't remember what it was, but I made a surge of sales. I am sure smart folks are leveraging from them. good to see you back everyone, I have been away for a little while... Takuya
Re: Ideas For Business - Thank you for the location tips! we will try relocating next weekend. -The 12.50 was the amount of money we made that day, so the profit was less than 12.50 if we minus the cost of the original cost of chocolate bars. -We bought the chocolates in Halloween packages, around 10$ for a large pack. The actual cost of each chocolate bar are around 15 cents for small ones and 50 cents for the bigger ones. We only sold a fraction from the package to make 12.50 which means we have made a profit.
My collections - I do have a few collections - I think you're right - everyone collects something! One of my favorte charactesr as a kid was Captain Hook from the movie Peter Pan, so I've got quite a few statuettes of that character, along with Smee and the Crocodile, plus a hat and a hook that I picked up from Disneyworld a few years ago.. (I wear them when giving out candy for Halloween...) I collect theatrical posters, and a few movie posters (all of my wall-to-wall bookcases have "doors" on them, consisting of those posters, since I don't have wall space for 'em!) of my favorite movies.
Favorite Christmas movies - Back when us kids were young (my parents had 3), my mom, sister and I would watch White Christmas every Christmas. (My dad and brother were never interested.) Now the rest of the family is scattered, and only I live close to my parents. We got away from the tradition, but now my mom and I watch [i:1h8kfk2v]White Christmas[/i:1h8kfk2v] again. (Just as every Halloween we watch Arsenic and Old Lace.) I also like the 1970 musical [i:1h8kfk2v]Scrooge[/i:1h8kfk2v], starring Albert Finney, much better than any version done since! I do have to say I've never liked[i:1h8kfk2v] It's A Wonderful Life[/i:1h8kfk2v]. He spends all his life having his hopes and dreams shattered, feeling miserable, and its only at the end of his life that he can look back and realize how many friends he has, etc. But that doesn't change the fact that up until that point he was miserable!
Re: Alexa Ranking Goals - @Alan Mater: Thank you for the offer. I would like to contribute to your blog at some stage, but not this month as I have yet to fulfill my obligation to Trent on his blog and polish off a couple of articles for my coop... Oh, and I resubscribed to SubmitYourArticle this month too and would like to post a couple more articles there before the tortured ghosts of Halloween give way to the blissful souls of All Saints... == Alexa ranking: Don't forget that the more your rank improves, the more competition it will face. @thegotoguy: Simply having the Alexa widget installed on your site will be a big factor in your improving Alexa ranking. What have you been doing to get links back to your site and post original content? Those two actions will certainly improve your Alexa ranking. What have you done to get 9-12k of visitor volume per month?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Make Small Commitments. Get Big Changes.

Common Sense Stress Management

Anger Solutions at Work: Why Customers Get Angry

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.