Day 3

Well if you’ve come this far then I hope that ,at least, you’ve left a comment. If you haven’t then please comment as to why not...J.

Today hadn’t started as planned; when you leave home five minutes later than usual it seems as though the whole city has done the same! You then find every single useless driver ever born in front of you the whole way to school. To cap it all coffee shop time is being steadily eroded...road rage!!

Anyway I’m here now and naturally my usual parking space has gone (not happy today)! The second choice of parking up becomes my only option, and like everybody else I simply park on the yellow line-have no fear. Entering the coffee shop I somehow feel that the dynamic is all wrong; the barista nods to me and starts to prepare my cappuccino. I look to my usual seat and feel as though I’ve crossed into a parallel universe, a topsy-turvy world of inaccuracies and anomalies: somebody else is in my exact soft leathery seat with their own laptop, happily tapping away. Never seen him before but if I had been on time... ‘Cappuccino medium’- the call stops me from descending into coffee- shop-rage. So why do I feel so aggrieved. Well we are all creatures of habit and we like our ‘places’ ; if your boss at work decided to move your desk to another part of the office you would most certainly kick up a fuss; if somebody took your regular(unassigned) parking spot you would curse and slander that person beyond reason. So, much like a dog who urinates up a lamppost or your car tyre we are just being territorial.

 The hard chair accommodates me but the small rectangular table is barely big enough to fit my laptop and coffee cup side by side. My new laptop (finally) runs for at least 5 hours on one charge so I set myself up and consider the stress of my short morning so far. Stress is a killer and it really is no joke. Search-‘Stress kills’

Your stomach is knotted; your muscles may be sore or tense; you feel exhausted most of the time; you have high blood pressure; regularly feeling low and unhappy… these are all symptoms of stress and can damage your immune system so much that your body could be open to heart disease, diabetes, respiratory problems, and cancer. When we are stressed our cells alter their shape and ‘get sick’ thereby allowing weaknesses in our immune system; this in turn opens us up to all manner of infections and disease. ‘Free radicals’ are able to take hold and nobody likes ‘free radicals.’ The American Medical Association reports that 75% of all sickness is directly related to stress.

Relax… give way to other drivers, don’t worry about being late, don’t worry about those unpaid bills, let others sit in your seat and above all … love each other.

 In other words try to avoid stress at all costs!!

Have a chilled day people.