Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me,
Liz Scott,
Just walking on Dartmoor as the sun dips behind the hillside and a greyness comes over the land which is so different from the contrasting brightness of the sun and the golden light just 20 minutes before.
Below me I can see a small herd of ponies and it reminds me that earlier on my walk I saw a beautiful sight in the crossing of the stream there was another small herd of ponies and they were in the stream itself and I paused from afar looking at them feeling this exquisite sense of being touched and joyful at witnessing these ponies in the stream watching them drink one of them was bashing the water with his hoof maybe to get a bit of coolness up on his belly I'm not sure but it was so magical just to see them in their own environment.
And today's reflection comes about from a conversation I heard earlier today with a friend.
She was talking about her fear of death and her fear of her partner who needs a lot of care coming to harm.
And we were in a group,
A supportive group,
So she was speaking this into the group.
And the answer that came back to her really resonated for me.
And I'm not as articulate as the person who spoke it,
But I'll do my best.
Because the person who spoke it said,
Look,
I can really feel that you feel this anxiety and worry about your husband in particular.
That was one of the things she raised,
That he might fall and he might hurt himself.
And she's his carer.
I can really understand that.
And she said,
But what you really maybe aren't quite seeing in the moment is that When something happens,
Or if something happens,
You will know how to deal with it.
You will find the resources and resilience to meet that circumstance and experience in the moment.
So what you're imagining at the moment feels frightening because it's not happening to you.
In the moment.
You're imagining scenarios that are creating fear about a future that doesn't exist.
And what's really helpful to know is that when you come across whatever it is that is going to happen in your future,
Whether it's to do with your husband or something completely different,
Something that is going to be challenging,
Whatever happens,
You will meet it because you are resilience and love and you are resourcefulness in action and that's just the nature of how it is and who you are.
So from that,
I reflected,
Because I don't think she's alone,
We might have got different content of our thinking,
But I too can get lost in thought and thinking and creating frightening scenarios of a future that doesn't actually exist.
And it seems to me,
As I reflect on it on my walk,
That I have two options that seem to come clear.
I can be in the worry and be subjected by the worry and feel it and imagine all these frightening things that will look and feel real and scary and I can almost find them whirring in my head around and around and around,
Torturing myself with them.
Or I can see that I will be okay and whatever happens in life,
I will meet it in the best way possible.
And it's not like saying you've got to do that.
You've got to sort of put aside your worries and your fears and your anxieties.
And if you don't do that,
You're doing something wrong.
I'm not saying that.
I'm saying that when you see through the thinking and the thought and the stories and the worry for what they are,
They're stories that you are torturing yourself with.
When you see that and you see as well that you are resourcefulness,
You are resilience,
You are love,
Action.
When you see that for yourself you will find life so much easier to navigate because you're not carrying the burden of unnecessary heavy thinking with you.
So you are much more than you think you are.
And whether you worry about something or not,
Just realize that whatever happens in life,
You will meet it in the most resourceful way you possibly can.
Let me know your reflections on this.
Do you feel that resourcefulness in yourself?
Does that make sense to you?
And of course,
Don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
