I recently enjoyed watching a BBC TV drama called “Ordinary Lies” written by Danny Brocklehurst in which the various employees of a garage were revealed as living some aspect of a lie within their ordinary life.

Each week was a new “story” but the climax of the series was the discovery of a man who had run away from his wife and two daughters sixteen months earlier without a trace.

I was reminded by the episode of a former work colleague of mine who, one day without notice, boarded a train for London to get away from the stress of his life which was driven by deadlines, new fatherhood and insecurities in his leadership skills, with which, he just could not cope.

He arrived in London, wandered around for a few hours, and came to his senses, and called his wife to tell her what had happened – I don’t think he had even been missed by the time he called, but the anguish of the family left behind was demonstrated very well in the TV Drama.

I can certainly relate to needing to get away from it all and the temptation to physically absent myself from my loved ones has also crossed my mind in the past, but I think that there has always been, through my own suffering with anxiety and stress, just enough rationality to know that the pain on others would be too much to bear.

I have discovered a new method of “Running Away” which does not harm anyone by my absence and it is the discovery of what I would describe as a “Mental Awayness”

This mental absence from my life and family is experienced by me in my quiet moments which I have embedded firmly into each day of my life.

They can last moments – enough time to listen to my inner voice on a given concern – or they can last for me up to an hour (mostly less than that) where I escape the stresses and strains by silently and patiently focusing on them until I have resolved them, noted them, dismissed them or understood that on a particular issue I need some support.

So, if you feel the need to run away, make sure that you find space for yourself to listen to your inner voice and be prepared to do this very often because the answers take time to take shape and more often than not they will result in you running to someone rather than devastating them by “Running Away”

My next blog will be :   “Jam Tomorrow”

William Defoe