Frustration and The Walking Remedy
Paula and Buddy in the woods. Happy.
This morning has been filled with frustrations, I was woken from a deep sleep by the screaming of the smoke alarm going off downstairs, I’d like to say I raced down the stairs ready to save us all from burning to death, but like most of us I am desensitised to alarms, so I strolled down muttering to myself about my lack of sleep, there was no smoke, it seems the battery may be dying, but it is not a replaceable battery, so the screaming continues intermittently throughout the morning. Our broadband has been causing issues for weeks now and I have been forced to make several of those increasingly difficult ‘customer service’ calls, The new pod that I am assured will make everything better seems in fact to be making things worse! I now have a submission deadline and no wifi connection, excellent! The puppy is as puppy’s do, misbehaving, often I find this naughtiness cute, today it is simply annoying, several times I trip over both dogs as they insist on mirroring my every move, I can’t take them out though to run off steam as I am in hostage mode waiting for a parcel I don’t want to miss and a customer is calling to collect an order. My partner has once again managed to ignore the jobs I asked him to do, the laundry pile is now a mountain, the washer has done it’s part and now it’s over to me for folding and putting away, why is this such an awful job? It often takes several days for me to complete this part; My son is complaining about his lack of clean socks, at least I think that’s what I hear over the music blasting from his phone. The urge to scream is strong as I look over at my laptop guiltily, as another deadline goes hurtling by.
Finally, the parcel has been delivered and the customer order collected, we put on jackets and leads and head off to the woods. It’s cold and the air is fresh and damp with the slight smell of burning wood. I let the dogs run loose across the field, smiling at their excitement. I stop, I loosen my jaw held so tightly all morning, I drop my shoulders that seem to be sitting clenched just below my ears and rotate them; I take a long, deep, grounding breath and as I release it I feel the tension starting to leave my body, I do this twice more feeling more relaxed with each breath out, I stretch and smile, the frustrations and annoyance lessening with each breath. Just like that, the puppy’s antics are funny again and my son’s conversation gentle on my ear. Oh, the medicine of being outside in nature.
