Escape to the Country

I have to laugh at the irony of it – I have been trying to write this article about “making time for yourself” for the past two months! As usual, I have succeeded in putting everyone and everything else first and leaving myself last on the list again ! I think I am in real danger of turning into a modern day martyr!

Like most parents of young children, it can be a challenge to escape to the loo never mind “to the country” …but this Spring I have resolved to make more time for ME and to get more exercise in the fresh air – after all there’s plenty of it and it’s free! There’s no need to pay expensive club fees like at a gym, (and no worries of looking awful in a pair of leggings either!) just peace and quiet and lots of wide open spaces !

I am lucky to live on the edge of a forest and try whenever I can to “escape” the daily chores by taking my daughter to the forest park as we both love it up there! There’s something strangely “reassuring” about the tall pine trees that surround the play area there; just the fact that they have been there for so many years, surviving all the troubles of the world ! For me, forests have a strange “mystery” all of their own; sights, smells and sounds that capture the imagination and calm jangled nerves! In fact, I’m convinced I must have been one of Robin Hood’s gang in a former life !

Let’s face it, modern life can be too fast and busy; rushing from work to supermarket, nursery to home…T.V adverts seem to offer answers with their “instant” meals, quick-fix remedies to the stress of trying to cram too much into too little time and be “all things to all people”! I feel sure that if we all put just a little (half an hour!) time instead to stroll in the country side, or even sit in the garden we would be calmer, fitter and full of fresh energy to meet life’s demands ! After all, a worn out, grumpy parent is hardly much fun for a young child, (or partner) or a particularly good role model for that matter – surely we need to set an example that each of us deserves time to relax and “do our own thing” – what ever that may be!

I read something years ago that has stuck with me, reminding me to get my priorities in order – It was simply “Unless you take yourself out of the world, you will loose yourself in it!” and it says it all for me !