Today, Tues 30th Oct 2007, I walked round the neighbourhood at about midday. I saw another cat which was not a black cat this time. It kept me under close surveillance.

It crossed the road and hid behind a bush. As I walked past and walked on up the road I turned round and looked at it every few seconds. It was still watching me closely. I suppose it had nothing better to do!

I passed a man who was on his knees weeding. He had literally got down to work and was giving the weeding a hundred percent effort.

When I reached home, I entered my gym and got down to work doing some knee splits. You kneel on one padded platform without wheels with your left knee and then on another with wheels with your right knee and then let the right platform move slowly away from the left.

I then did 200 abdominal curls and 50 leg raises and 50 bench presses with light weights and limited movement. I hung from a bar like a gorilla for about 20 seconds.

I also did a minute or so with a single wooden nunchaku and then a minute or so with double wooden nunchaku. I managed to avoid hitting myself and found the catches flowed quite smoothly.

My workout was not exactly demanding but I was quite pleased that I had done some fitness and martial art work at least.

Today, Friday Oct 26th 2007, I used a deadline of noon for a Tesco delivery, to get me out walking round the neighbourhood before 11.30 a.m.

I took the short route and noticed a black cat meaowing outside a garage. It was reaching up the garage door with its paws and looking up longingly at the window of the room above the garage.

Presumably it thought its owner had slept too long and should be up taking care of it by now!

It was a lesson in earnest prayer. Jesus said ‘Ask and you shall receive.” I imagine he meant the kind of all out prayer demonstrated by that cat.

As I mentioned it was a black cat, but it was not relying on luck to make things happen.

The great artist and scientist, Leonardo da Vinci, clearly believed in taking action to make things happen. This week, I came across some great quotes by him which are well worth studying and remembering:

“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.”

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

“Oh God! You sell us everything for the price of an effort!”

The last quote is my favourite. We can lose weight through the price of an effort such as walking more. We can look trimmer by working the abs more. We can make extra money by working more or making an effort to save more etc. etc.

I took action by going for a second walk in the evening. This time another black cat ran across the road in front of me.

In Britain and Japan, having a black cat cross your path, is considered good luck, whereas if you live in the USA or several European countries, it is bad luck to have a black cat walk by.

Perhaps believing that good luck is on its way helps your mind to attract it. I think I’ll stick with the British and Japanese way of interpreting the movements of the black cat!

Today, Wednesday 24th October, I walked round the neighbourhood twice.

I was motivated to get in the morning walk early so I could listen to Prime Minister’s Question Time at noon.

I was motivated to walk in the evening by having a letter to post before the 6.30 p.m. deadline.

Grabbing any small reason like the above for walking and preferably for walking before a deadline is an effective means of motivation.

During the evening walk round the neighbourhood, I met a two month old Yorkshire terrier. He was on a lead but rushed over to greet me.

“What enthusiasm,” I commented to the owner.

He agreed: “He loves everything and everyone.”

Today, Sunday October 21st 2007, I walked into Petts Wood for the first time for a long time. The woods were exactly the same as before.

I didn’t meet any one I knew but I commiserated with a few people over England’s defeat in the World Cup Final.

Since my last post, England went on to defeat France in the semi-finals but lost to South Africa in the finals.

The win over France showed again how determination and belief can produce shock upsets and turn dreams into reality.

England could have won the final but made 5 mistakes which
gifted South Africa with penalties which were kicked over by the amazing Percy Montgomery and the talented Francois Steyn.

The regret will stay with the England players for the rest of their lives according to rugby players who had suffered a similar experience.

On the whole, South Africa probably deserved victory. They had already beaten England three times this year and had won every match in the world cup.

I was especially impressed by Montgomery. At one point he was shoved at the far end of the field and crashed into a heavy camera.

Instead of collapsing in pain, he simply got up, rubbed his arm and came back on to the field of play. He, at least, will have no
regrets for the rest of his life.

Today is Monday Oct 8th 2007 and I am still euphoric about England’s win over Australia.

While I was taking my midday walk I met a neighbour who will soon be moving into Marlings Park Avenue. He also has been watching the rugby and was also delighted.

After England were thumped by South Africa they could have sunk into a mood of tame resignation and decided to do better in four years time. One player put the situation clearly:

“We can either sit and dwell on it or put it right against Samoa.”

England put it right against Samoa and Tonga and then, spectacularly, against Australia.

As I said in my last post, I don’t really care if they lose to France. Both England and France have shown us the way.

We can all achieve miracles. I am sure both Australia and New Zealand will bounce back. They will probably start by sacking the coach just as Wales sacked their’s!

Today, Sunday Oct 7th 2007, both the English and the French woke up feeling ten feet tall.

England had beaten Australia in the quarter final of the world rugby cup and France had beaten the New Zealand All Blacks in their quarter final.

Both Australia and New Zealand were favourites to win the competition.

France had been favourites until they were beaten by Argentina in the first match of the competition. The French suffered heavy criticism. Now they were heroes. They had beaten the All Blacks.

The English had suffered four years of criticism since winning the last world cup in 2003. Now they had astounded their critics by beating the most successful team in the history of the World cup – Australia.

England and France had taught the world that the impossible really can happen even after days and, in England’s case, years of despair.

I went for a walk with a spring in my step and met a friend who shared my delight at England’s win.

Doing the impossible takes belief, ferocious determination and a sense of urgency. It is a lesson from rugby which applies equally to daily life.

Next Saturday, France play England in the semi-finals. It does not really matter who wins.

Both teams have already taught us that we can do the impossible if we decide to believe in ourselves and make huge efforts to achieve our dreams.

Today, Saturday Oct 6th 2007, I walked round Petts Wood before shopping at Iceland.

I went to a shop that sold bags and travel cases of all kinds in search of a brief case as my current one is breaking apart.

I found a lady of 75 waiting outside the door which had a notice on it saying “Sorry! On holiday. Back on Sat Oct 6th at 10 a.m.”

It was already 10 a.m. and no sign of life from within. This was only a minor inconvenience for me but the lady, who suffered from dizzy spells, had to catch four buses to get to Petts Wood and would have to catch four to get home.

Trying to stay upright on our local buses is difficult enough even if you are young and fit let alone 75 and dizzy to start with. It must have been a nightmare for this poor lady.

What made it worse was that she had come to Petts Wood the previous week without realizing the shop owners were on holiday.

I would have offered her a lift home but she would have suspected me of ulterior motives. Modern life has sadly made people suspicious of the helpful stranger.

I once did give a lift to a drunken man who was walking down the middle of the road with an alsatian endangering his and the dog’s life.

He accepted the lift and his dog sat just behind me, breathing down my neck. The man kept banging his dog lead on the dashboard and when we arrived at his house asked me if I was a burglar! No word of thanks for saving his life!

Back to the lady at the shop. She had been a teacher and that is enough hardship for anyone in some schools at least! But she had also had to look after a husband who had developed Alzheimer’s over a period of 19 years.

Eventually, she had to ask to have him cared for in a local Alzheimer’s centre. She was then told that he was too aggressive to be allowed to stay there.

She protested that aggressiveness is often part of the Alzheimer’s condition so that it made no sense to expel him for what is part of the illness.

They said he could stay if she consented to him having injections presumably to calm him down. She consented reluctantly but was then horrified to discover that, after six injections, he had developed Parkinson’s disease.

One can only imagine what she has been through. I was amazed at how fit and cheerful she looked. Her husband is now dead and at peace and I expect that though her life is more lonely, it is also more calm and less full of stress.

Today, Thursday 4th October 2007, I walked round the neighbourhood at noon. The sun was hot for September.

As I drew near to home, a couple of friends from the woods, stopped their car just ahead of me and emerged for a chat.

It was good to see them again after several months. Their dog had died so they no longer visited the woods as often but, when they did, they were free to walk further than when they were tied to the dog’s limitations.

They have not yet replaced the dog as they are enjoying the freedom of not having to care for an ageing animal but they probably will get another dog in the future.

I quoted Mark Twain:

“A baby is an inestimable blessing but a bother.”

The same could be applied to a pet.

If you think the blessings outweigh the bother you will be happy to choose to have a baby or a pet.

Today, Wed Oct 3rd 2007, I parked near Sevenoaks Way and walked along the road to PC World.

They have cut down their computer book section so I did not stay long. I headed back in the direction of my car and visited the shops in a new shopping centre.

Marks and Spencer will open in December. Waterstone’s have a great bookshop there already so I spent about £35 and then moved on back to my car.

The walk was not long but the time spent in Waterstone’s must have been just as long if not longer. Maybe shopping is an effective form of exercise!

You are standing and moving about and enjoying yourself without noticing that you are getting tired.

You are spending money unless you have a will of iron but the exercise will give you more energy and make you more productive so that you are more likely to earn more money to pay for what you buy.

Next time, you don’t feel like going for a walk, try visiting the shops instead!