Ready for a holiday 

I’ve not been feeling great this week - several reasons I think. 

First, I’m tired - ready for a holiday after a busy and at times stressful period since Christmas. Second, I’ve been marking students' work which often effects my mood - I've written about this before, only this time I’ve found myself questioning my teaching abilities which is rather unsettling. Third, the weather - it’s been such a long winter and according to the latest forecast, we're not done yet. And finally, it’s a part of my personality to experience mood swings, even depression, from time to time. 

At least one in four people will experience mental health problems during their lifetime. My symptoms include loss of confidence, negative thoughts, broken sleep patterns - classic symptoms I guess. They feel really significant to me but I suspect are much less obvious to others, except to those who know me well. I’m  comfortable sharing these things - indeed I believe I have a responsibility to do so. 

You don't need me to tell you that mental health is a growing problem. I get quite angry and frustrated when the issue is discussed in the media, mainly because most of it seems to focus on the scale of the problem and the need for more resources (which of course is important), but rarely on the root causes which in my view are mainly societal. It cannot be a coincidence that reported levels of health and happiness in the Scandinavian countries are substantially higher than in the UK. We could learn a lot from the way these countries are organised, their cultural values and social norms, although I'm sure they too have their faults - after all, no country, no society is perfect. See link below if you are interested in finding out more.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/finland-happiest-country-world-un-report

I’m writing this sitting on a bench in Whiteley Woods late on Thursday afternoon taking a break from all that marking. Just been chatting to one of my neighbours who was out walking with her carer. She's in her late 70's and suffers with dementia which has been getting progressively worse recently - hopefully the walk, the company and the brief chat with me did her some good. Being outdoors in a pleasant environment, able to appreciate the sounds and smells of nature certainly helps when I'm feeling a bit off colour. I'm lucky to live so close to the countryside - clearly many others are less fortunate. Sitting there typing away, a funny thing happened - I got licked all over by a beautiful black labrador who crept up on me unannounced. And now Isla is doing her usual trick of barking and splashing incessantly in the water which is equally funny. I feel better already - animals and nature, the perfect combination!

I chose Concord this weekend. Ailsa and Isla came along for the ride, or to be more precise, a walk in the park. After a brief chat with race directors Neil and Angela who introduced me to her beautiful 6 month old granddaughter, Lela, we were on our way. I struggled a bit today but with Ailsa and Isla encouraging me up the hill on the second lap I got to the finish in just under 25 minutes, second in my age category and with an age graded score of 62.17% - a good deal higher than the marks I awarded most of my students this week...

80 parkruns now completed - one closer to the magic 100. 

Until next time - happy parkrunning.

Please leave any comments below.