Grasping the Moment

I thank you all for yesterdays marvellous comments. It is so good to hear how others have grasped the moment and knocked on the doors. I am also happy to hear that so many of you have also got doors waiting to be knocked and ready to offer help when it is asked for because I am day by day aware that I am blessed with such talented friends, who have indeed grasped the moment.

I had a funny conversation yesterday that led my thinking further along those same lines. I was in the newsagent when somebody said to me. “I passed you out running this morning. I was in the warmth of the car, were you not freezing cold out there running?”

Now there is a question that comes from the heart of one who has never had the joy of running. But it was a question that made me think.

When I go running I wear two watches. One that tells me nothing except the time of day and one that tells me what my heart rate is the elevation of ascent, the speed of travel and the distance travelled. It can also tell me exactly where I am just in case I get completely lost. Yes, I know, a bit over the top, but at one time I trained really seriously to race marathons and I just cannot get out of the habit.

Now hear is the interesting thing. Neither of these watches were made by the Swiss. When I was a boy all watches were Swiss made. When the new digital age came along the Swiss rejected it and stuck with the old cog wheels. As a result watch factories all over Switzerland had to close. They had not grasped the moment.

Today as I sit here and write I can hear the rain pounding off the window, there is a strong wind blowing and I am sure it is cold outdoors. How nice it would be to just go run a warm bath and lie in it and read a few chapters of my book. Or fill my coffee cup and read a few more blogs. The more I think about it the more attractive it becomes.

The hardest part of any run is the first five steps, the ones that take me from my back doorway. Once I get moving and the body warms up and I get that wonderful feeling in my legs of moving freely I will love every minute of it. It is a bit like getting into a cold swimming pool where everybody seems to be having fun. Do you remember that feeling?

Today will be full of opportunities to grasp the moment. To make somebody’s day brighter than it might be. To take a step into something new. To make a new friend or to consolidate an old one.

Or to take the comfortable way and do exactly the same as always. Will the last person put out the lights?

Today I am day older and a great many days older than I was when I had my first Swiss watch, but I am not too old yet to,” Grasp the Day.”

I am off to get on my trainers and my two watches and enjoy the rain.



Have a great day.

This blog is linked to my other.  Rain Along The Coastal Path