I was out walking this morning. The sun was shining and, although the halcyon days of summer are now a distant memory, still warm enough to wear a sweater and not a thick coat.
I was worrying about two health issues in our family. I rang my daughter, the ex biology teacher, and discussed both with her. By the time I was half way up the dreaded hill, panting and probably blue in the face, one of my worries had been dismissed. The other one’s prognosis was good so I got to the top of the hill, took a deep breath and looked around me.
It was then that I was struck by the beauty of my surroundings. My mother in law used to often say that the little lanes leading from the bottom of our garden were typical of an English countryside. If the wild flowers by the roadside, the rolling fields on my right, dotted with contented grazing cattle and the corn crop on the left were typical, then I agree.
It was then that I had an epiphany (maybe a bit dramatic but that is how it felt)! I spend so much of my life worrying that I have little time to be grateful and miss out on life’s simple pleasures.
So I have decided that I am going to be more positive and make a concerted effort to stop worrying! I know this is easier said than done but I’ll keep the memory of that view on top of the hill this morning fixed firmly in my mind.
I’m sitting outside in the garden. The bird feeder is covered with birds and I’ve just seen a nut hatch join the blue, long tailed and great tits attacking the suet balls and peanuts. A buzzard is making his presence heard above me. The occasional noisy flutter of a fat wood pigeon’s wings as it swoops down to eat the pickings dropped from the bird feeder is broken only by the annoying shriek of a gull overhead. But it is a lovely, peaceful picture of a late summer afternoon in my garden of Eden.
I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or anyone else! This grateful feeling is good and I am going to work on enjoying life’s simple, wonderful pleasures. I have the time, so why not make the most of it! 👠
Jenny Burrell 