About four years ago I got into a mindset of getting fit and I lost a lot of weight as a result of regularly swimming, running and watching my diet.

The weight came off very substantially, but in the intervening period, although I still run occasionally and swim rarely, some of my weight losses have been reversed.

Whilst on holiday last week, I quite enjoyed getting into the pool, which was reasonably quiet and I found myself counting the lengths as I swam up and down.

The action of counting, irritated me because I sensed that the freedom that I wanted to experience in the present moment, whilst on holiday, had become some kind of process in which I would record mentally the lengths I had done.

I sensed the tension and listened to my inner voice telling my critic to stop counting,

I said to myself “Just Swim” and think of something else that makes you feel calm as you do.

You see, this was my time to refresh and replenish my body, mind and spirit and for those few days, my new found inner strength enabled me to assert my need for calm over my need to succeed.

My next blog will be:  Precarious Sparrows

William Defoe