Stop, look and listen - just for a minute if you can.

When I walked the dogs today I paid attention to it all. Instead of allowing my mind to race with worries, arguments etc I looked around me, I inhaled all the smells and I listened. I suppose you could say it was a walking meditation !

I smelt the sweetness of the damp grass recently cut that stuck to my shoes. A slight breeze gathered momentum as it moved forward from the far side of the wood. I watched as the tall trees swayed as the breeze brushed through them, like God was running His hand against them. Grey squirrels darted up ivy covered tree trunks, pausing slightly. Birds chattered and sang loud and soft hidden from my view. My two dogs plonked along quietly sniffing and sneezing and panting. In the distance the hum of the passing traffic was just audible.

My feet were cold but my face was warm. I walked slowly looking and listening and feeling. When the dogs stopped to eat grass or just look around them, I did the same - I didn't eat grass !!! All three of us moved slowly and silently and reverently.

Three dogs ran yelping and barking into the big field beside the path we were walking on. They bounced about playfully chasing each other and stopping as they heard the summoning whistles of their owner. We were back at the car by now.

Reminds of that poem by William Henry Davies 'Time to stop and stare'.

What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep, or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.............................

How do I feel now - rested and relaxed and better. The same worries are still there but for 45 minutes I paid attention to something else. It was nice - we'll do it again tomorrow.