2nd June 2012

Well I reckon these wonderful lovebirds will be together for the rest of their lives. I spotted them yesterday, and yes, I believe it’s true that swans do in fact normally mate for life. And today I’m quite jealous of them; no, not the for life thing, although such a pairing is certainly something that’s now missing from my journey into the future. But it’s simply being outdoors that I’m missing as I’ve just spent two evenings and most of today, Saturday, in a church conference. Don’t get me wrong, I almost always enjoy being with church and in particular the teaching of Godly men and women; it’s just the busyness of proceedings, and the indoor environment that’s not ideal when trying to manage Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It makes me ill if I spend too long in it. Hence the longing to be out in the countryside again. Soon!

It’s so easy to live an unbalanced life. There are so many demands placed upon us and so little time in the day to life healthily. For me the foundation to a successful life is to live with right relationships, firstly with God by taking time out to get to know him and his ways. And then with those around us, be they friends and family or work colleagues. These are often the folk we have to live with day by day, year after year; so we need to get it right, by honouring them honestly and with Godly respect. So while we’re at it let’s make all that cross our paths feel just a little better about life for having met us, whether they be current acquaintances or complete strangers.

Then I find it helpful to occasionally review my own health and remember that we’re all made up of body, mind and spirit. A little simplistic I know, but it’s so easy to ignore how we live and then wonder why we get sick. I lived with almost unbearable stress in the workplace for decades so maybe it’s not surprising I end up with CFS. Not good. So now I work hard at eating a very healthy diet whilst maintaining a measured approach to some sort of pacing program. One day I’ll break away from my life of perpetual fatigue and I intend to remain as fit as possible with regular exercise. And avoiding stress is a key to good mental health, for me. So I spend time walking in the countryside. But in actuality my spiritual life affects both my mind and body; the presence of God and his guiding touch always lead me into green and pleasant pastures… no matter the torture and strain of difficulties that come my way.

Philippians 4:8-9 ^‘And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.’ (NLT)