Stay Calm and Cycle

It's unusual for Mick and I to be out on our bikes together as Mick cycles twice as far and twice as fast as me!

Strategies for Staying Calm

Stay Calm and Cycle
 
What a week we’ve had. Having waited so long to get my lovely dad home we only managed six days before he had to go back into hospital. 

We waited for nearly eight months to get dad home, but after six days he is back in hosptial. We are hopeful he will be back again with us in a couple of days though. :)

Having an ambulance arrive should be dramatic, but it has almost become normal for us.
 
Dad is in hospital with a different complaint, but he is still quite poorly. We are waiting for a care package to be implemented that is sufficient to keep him safe at home.  It is definitely time to follow my own advice on being patient! I am mindful though, that if I am stressed, how much worse it must be for dad and my mum.

Strategies for Staying Calm

I am trying to think of strategies about how to stay calm. I’m hopeful you might be able to suggest some as this is all I can come up with.
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 ·      Exercise.
·      Mindfulness of living in the moment and not worrying too far ahead.
·      Remembering to be grateful.
·      Trying to look beyond my own immediate bubble of concerns.
·      Acceptance. As my mum always says ‘what can’t be cured must be endured.’
·      Talking things through but not obsessively so!

Concentration and Calmness

When I’m a bit stressed I find it very difficult to sit still, but I don’t manage to achieve anything very productive. I find it difficult to concentrate for long on anything and seem to spend my time up and down to the fridge - snacking! This is not good!! What I should do is try to look outside my own situation and remember to be thoughtful to others as it really does help. 
 
This week I’ve been trying to read Ali Smith’s Summer. I always find Smith challenging. I found How to be Both quite difficult and didn’t find it easy to link the two different stories. Maybe there is no need to. Having said that I think her language is the most lyrical and powerful that I’ve read in recent years. Smith (Ali, not my Mick) always leaves me feeling very anxious about the world we inhabit. It is strange though, despite these underlying nagging concerns about climate change, Brexit and such like it is the stuff that is happening directly in our family that dominates. I wonder if other people are the same.

Cycling to Calm

Cycling down by the river is great fun, but not as warm as cycling in Thana City in Bangkok!

The only thing I’ve managed to spend time doing this week that is all productive is some cycling. Mick and I are participating in the Help for Uganda fundraiser by contributing miles and donations to a virtual 6480-mile ride from the UK to Uganda. The purpose is to raise the necessary funds to complete the building and equipping of a school for children with sensory disabilities in Jinja, Uganda. 

We love being part of this virtual cycle to Uganda.

I've pledged to cycle 200 miles in September. I know that isn’t a huge amount, but I am discovering that try as I might it is impossible to find a route that is downhill all the way to a destination and back home again!
 
Our team (Deb, Fiona, Mick and I)  has managed to raise 750 pounds so far and are trying to reach a thousand. Here is our charity page – all donations, however small are very welcome. #Justsaying - or as I say to amuse the kids, ‘Justsayinghashtag’

Empty Nesting Again

Both the girls are away at the minute so our house is an empty nest!  Betsy is with her boyfriend, which she has been looking forward to.  Annie has returned to London (after a quick visit home for her birthday. (How did we become old enough to have a 22 year old?) Annie is working for a recycling company, in between trying not to stress about her dissertation. She has been telling me how her office has a pool table, coffee bar and proper bar, which is free for employees to enjoy.  That is not how I remember office environments! Thank goodness that Saint Mick (of Broughton, not Thana) is here to make the empty nesting a little easier.  Our coffee bar is also free, other than the odd trip to the supermarket to buy more beans! I’m not sure drinking copious amounts of coffee will keep me calm, but I’m going to give it a try anyway! ​​​​