Sunday, like no other

I have completed a week of goal setting.  More importantly, I have completed a week of achieving those goals.  I was thrilled to wake to this realisation and, for a moment, hesitated to go out on a walk because the air was cold.  The birds, silent.  The temptation, warm.

The urge to walk was stronger.  Duhigg’s habit loop “cue, behaviour, reward” kicked in.  Far in the distance something white caught my eye.  I thought it was a feather but zooming in, I found a spider had woven a web with strands of pearls.  On a clear lake, the young feathered company, fluffed up and darted about.  At the urging of the red wattlebird, I decided to walk a longer route, one that hugged closer to the lake and through a pathway I hadn’t walked before.  To my surprise this rim is lined with melaleuca gum trees (paperbark).  They are exquisite when they shed, with huge drifts of creamy bark, just waiting to float off a tree.  I finally reached a clearing and found the Australian shelducks high up on a tree.  I suspect they are nesting here as they were territorial and protested my presence.

Those who know me will attest to my reluctance of walking in grass, especially when I don’t know what’s in there!  I am never afraid of spiders, even deadly ones.  But, I dislike reptiles (geckos, lizards, snakes).  A colleague, who is more adventurous than me, often reassures me on our walks when we travel together,  creepy crawlies are more likely to scurry away than attack.  So I looked at my fears more closely, and realised, if I wore protective clothing, I was safe.  And, that’s what I did and enjoyed something new.

How many times in life do unreasonable fears hold us back?  I’m now prepared to make an inventory.

Here’s to life, like it’s meant to be lived!

As always,

a dawn bird