Perfect Day
Oh what a perfect day
Lou Reed 1972
This morning I woke to the gentle call of the chickens in their pen (Gentle? Yeah right), they were screeching their heads off because,,, although the door to the coop is automatic and set to open at 6.00am, I only half opened door to the pen, leaving them all to walk straight toward the hinges side rather than thinking to walk round to the open side.
Not the most intelligent of birds, are they?
Anyway, it was a beautiful morning and as my wife and the children were still sleeping, I decided a quick coffee and a walk with the dog was called for, and it was because of this walk that I wanted to write this blog.
Before I get to writing the main event, I reminded myself of what a blog is meant to be, or at least what I think it is meant to be:
‘A sharing of your thoughts that may be of interest or help to others’
It wasn’t a massive walk but one which was to be, perfect, meeting only one person along the way and saying only one word, “Morning”.
At one point I sat at a bench taking onboard some lovely views of the countryside and took stock of everything that contributed to this wonderful feeling, such as having a wonderful family, a home and occupation, and feeling in good health and happy with who I am.
In the far distance I could hear various birds singing, with the nearest sounds to me being that of grasshoppers and a single honeybee, all the while the sun shone down and a gentle breeze brushed against my face, giving a warm, soft, wave like sensation.
Nice, eh?
Then, in the shadows of my mind, lurked the evil nagging doubt, an issue that often hits me when things are going well, the reminder that this will not last, and that something will go wrong at some point.
This is the difference between the optimist and the pessimist, the optimist thinking that for every down, don’t worry, there will be an up again soon, and for the pessimist, thinking that for every up, don’t get too comfortable with yourself, there’ll be a down along any minute!
Now I am not saying I am a pessimist, I am not, quite the opposite in fact, but on occasion I can feel that this euphoria simply cannot last.
So how can we deal with this, how can we keep the good feeling with us?
By not being so worried about the bad, especially when nothing has even happened yet!
Bruce Lee said:
“Pray not for an easy life but for the strength to endure a difficult one”.
I realise now that in order to do this, it is simply down to being prepared, in fact, is this not the reason why so many people out there are training their Wing Chun in the first place?
They are not expecting a fight, but knowing they are prepared in some way, allows them peace in what would otherwise be a difficult situation.
So why not take a few minutes to run some personal safety checks, such as:
Check where your spare tyre and tools are, should you have a puncture while driving one day.
Type into your phone the credit card emergency numbers, in case you ever lose your wallet.
Even to the extreme of having an idea of where and who to call should you need funeral services.
This way, when bad does come to visit, you are ready to welcome it rather than live in doubt of what might be.
So, go for a walk, clear your head, try to see the good out there, and allow yourself the luxury of enjoying it, because in the bigger picture, are your negatives really that bad, or is it just that you were not ready for them?
Just a thought. 🙂