Head games

Looking at the picture of the fella getting off the plane today from Guantanamo and reading the statement read out by his lawyer one can only begin to barely comprehend what it must be like to suffer torture, especially all the mind-torture.

I'm in the middle of a period of life right now where I've never felt less certain about the road ahead. I have always been confident that no matter what happens I'll figure out some way to survive and keep afloat.

But lately there's just so much uncertainty, so many people around me all worrying endlessly about the future and what will happen. And all the time the people who should be leading just aren't. 

Take the situation in Ireland as a clear example. Businesses have been pulling out of Ireland, and people have been losing their jobs. On top of that the banks have pretty much disgraced their profession, showing themselves to be less than adept at managing their businesses than the average small trader and in some cases being plan dishonest. 

So people the length and breadth of the country are wondering if these 'gougers' will be brought to account, if they will have to pay for their mismanagement and misdeeds like ordinary people have to. Sadly up to this point the usual maxim applies.

Those who can afford the best legal advice tend to enjoy the greatest legal protections. There's a lot to be said for getting good advice but when you view this disaster that is Ireland's economic standing and reputation from afar then you see it for what it really is. A greed pit with an escape hatch.

And on a more local scale, that uncertainty prevails too. And there is a real lack of leadership.

I always liked the vision of the leader as the one who climbs the tallest tree to see where the edge of the jungle is. Well right now it seems that all is happening where I am is lots of huddles around camp fires, waiting for God knows what.

It's like mental torture for some people. The not knowing. The waiting. The lack of information. The pain of amplified rumours as each person adds another little bit of power to a rumour and to misinformation.

Sometimes it's better to turn off the radio. Put down the newspaper. Switch off the TV or PC and go and do something that you and only you can influence. Like taking a walk or making a cup of tea or taking a drive to some place calm and beautiful. And take in what you can of what you actually see and actually experience.

We don't need anybody else's filter to tell us how to see what is happening in our own life. Yet that's exactly the problem. 

We've all become hooked on the views of economists and accountants and business commentators and news anchors and all the rest.

Maybe it's time to see again with your own eyes and just live the life that you have now. There you go. I just sorted my own mind out. Grand.