Grey, grey days at the start of the year, compounded by staying in Bristol city centre hadn't done much to help me keep my New Year's resolution to have daily exercise and fresh air.....until we walked on Clifton Downs! Never mind the physical stuff, which we got from putting accelerator foot in front of brake food for an hour, it was more the exercise in 'spectator' sport we enjoyed.
Which included model aircraft flying - and look at the lovely architecture behind, of the Clifton houses that encircle the Downs. The one benefit of this time of year is that they are very visible and stand out against the bare trees and the sullen sky.
There were several dads and sons footie games going on plus dozens of people running, cycling, walking and talking. It was a feast of community enjoyment of a big open public space and put my slightly dragging feet at the thought of the walk to shame.
Talking of walking - it was muddy! Very. But my Christmas present waterproof walking boots had their first outing and proved totally 'fit for purpose." More of which later.
Life Auditing is a private process. Quite the reverse of group therapy. The data you put into the charts is for your eyes only and comes from the private observations you make of yourself and the life you lead. What falls out of the bottom at the end of the process is the individually tailored answers you've been looking for. (And often knew already in your heart of hearts)
I presume the private nature of the process is why Auditors prefer to email individually questions and comments rather than chatter about them in a more general sense. Either is fine and I am always pleased to hear individually from anyone as they carry out audits on all or parts of their life. In the last couple of days, since New Year, new joiners have registered from all over the world and the new App is registering in top app charts. These comments summed up some entries being made in the Blessings Counted section of the first Life Audit Daily Accounting chart - the Daily Journal.
"Gave my girlfriend a big hug before we left for work and loved the familiar smell of her perfume. It stayed with me all day." Steven, Barnes, London
"Stuck in traffic but seeing children playing and laughing in a park was a joy to watch."
Dilys, Manhattan.
"Woke up early and had first coffee in favourite mug watching the sun rise...,,,,feel excited about the day ahead and doing something positive to make changes with The Life Audit. Curious too about what it will show me." Laura, Adelaide.
"My bad cough has gone! Brilliant!" John, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
"Very happy to see my colleagues - I am lucky they are such a good crowd, I'm glad to go to work each day" Sam, Toyko.
......because, in our household there have been many failures at this New Year's Day's first hurdle including the diet controlled diabetic who has had a large bowl of left-over Xmas pudding with brandy butter and who is now on the sofa enjoying the sleep that only that sort of sugar rush can induce. Snappy exchanges with loved ones over little things, walks that haven't been taken! Dogs that haven't been walked. Bottles that have been opened and glasses poured. Trashy films chosen over unopened improving Christmas books. Duty calls not made, tidying up not done.......the list could go on.
Yes I know this blog is meant to "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative" to quote the magnificent Johnny Mercer/ Bing Crosby song but sometimes having a plan, letting that plan change and going with the flow is the best thing to do - and that is what has happened here today.
The only good thing about this list of failure is that things that can only get better (to coin another hijacked lyric) and that thank the Lord, tomorrow morning and every one after it will always be the first day of the rest of life to make fresh starts and new resolutions.
Happy New Year to you - how have you got on?
New Year's Day is traditionally the time to make resolutions and changes for the better. Hmm! Experts say it takes just 21 days for people to adopt changes for good while all the statistics show that by 18th January most of us will have failed to stick to our promises to self!
Life Auditing is all about being sure about the changes you want to make in the first place and about planning how to bring them about. That's why the first of its three stages is about taking stock of either your whole life or one tiny part of it you want to improve. With 2012 coming to a close why not plan to begin to audit your life in 2013. With the brand new site offering all charts to fill in online now plus a mobile app so you keep track of what you do while on the move, You've no excuses to be ready for whatever challenges the New Year brings.
When I told a friend I was going to attend a special dinner offering a "Tasting Menu" and accompanying "Flight of Wines" with seven people, of whom I knew only three, she was horrified on both counts. Firstly the idea of an imposed menu, regardless of what you do and don't like, appalled her and secondly the thought of spending seven courses making small talk with strangers having no known conversation touchstones. This friend, I should add has a wide, close knit perfectly formed social circle of friends who feel nurtured by her and who nurture back in turn.
The result however, of an amazing supper at The H-H restaurant near Exeter www.the-hh.co.uk did quite the opposite to realising her fears.
The tasting menu included scallops, steak, truffle emulsions, terrine, foie gras and artisan cheeses and without the distractions of choice the conversation became a la carte, was free-ranging and eclectic. Religion, politics, sex, drugs and rock and roll all had their moments along with the benefits or otherwise of NLP and the Landmark Forum, below the radar tax changes, TB and a badger cull, immersive theatre and cheese-tasting. We discovered who, if they could, would 'channel' Elizabeth I, Kris Kristofferson, Gina Lollobrigida and Boris Johnson and what the 30 year life plan was of the birthday celebrant. (More of that tomorrow) It was a discursive version of supper itself - still pondering the Wine Flight!
So - amid all the Christmas shoppers we spotted the prone body of a young man lying in a Corporation plant bed. He was deathly white and apparently not breathing and had no shoes on. I called the police and an ambulance. People with me said not to give my name or address. Why? Nobody else was stopping. I called over a lad skate-boarding near-by to explain to the emergency services our exact location. He looked at at the 'body' and shrugging said it looked like an overdose. Then at last someone else did stop who had medical training and was able to detect the faintest breath. Just as we heard the sirens, the young man's eyes fluttered open and he staggered to his feet. Still looking like death he stumbled off despite our pleas to wait for an ambulance. He looked at me - terrifyingly it was a stare of pure malevolence. Some one said he had been 'acting', the skateboarder said he was a nutter, the police said we'd done the right thing and went off into the crowds to try and find him. I was left very shaken.
Later on the way home, after the shops were closed, we heard and then saw a few members of the Sally Army, all uniformed off with their shiny brass instruments. They were randomly playing carols on a deserted street corner to absolutely no one and I couldn't see a collecting tin in sight. They shouted Merry Christmas as they moved off, still playing. They cheered me up but of course their main mission is to help people like the lad we found. http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk.
An often used excuse for not managing time better is that there is never enough time itself left in a day to think about how you might have used your waking hours better. Let alone then consider how you wasted any time and as a result missed any opportunities.
Now there is no excuse because The Life Audit has launched its own Life Auditing App so you can account for what you do on the move - when, where and with whom.
It's available from iTunes and from Google Play for iPhone and Android priced just £4.99 and is the best investment you will ever make in working out how to reclaim the lost minutes and hours that could change your life for the better and make every second count.
