That little cockroach.

Falkland The Estate.

I walk every day and frequently in Falkland Estate, where I have a number of beautiful and inspiring routes that I enjoy. 

Nature I see there is inspiring and never lets me down, A great variety of birds and animals including deer. The changing seasons each bring a beauty of their own, from autumn colours to winter sun. I never leave disappointed other than by the sight of empty plastic bottles and cans, frequently empty from the owners having drunk the so-called energy drinks from them before discarding them. 

These energy drinks are obviously not all they are supposed to be, the owners have the strength to carry them to that point full but once consumed the energy not only drain from the can but from the drinker who now finds the can so heavy he/she can no longer carry it.

One other small thing that upsets me is the number of people who on seeing a small insect or animal that disturbs them tramp on it and kill it. At least my wife who seems to find such things frightening just jumps and lets out a whelp. She would never dream of tramping on them, just wants me to remove them from her path.

This reminds me of the incident in a restaurant. All was quiet and waiters and waitresses were going about their business serving food. All of a sudden there was an unearthly screaming of fear. A lady had a cockroach settled on her lap. With a panic-stricken look, she started jumping and with trembling hands tried to remove it from her dress. 

 Her reaction was contagious, as all the other ladies at that table began to panic as she was. The lady eventually managed to dislodge the offending bu only for it to land on one of her companions. Now it was her turn to continue the drama to the amusement of others.

A waiter rushed over to the table like a knight in shining armour coming to the rescue. In the midst of it all the cockroach somehow landed on him. he stood firm and determined and watched the bug move up the arm of his shirt. When confident he reached down and gently caught it in his hand and opened the window and threw it out.

It crossed my mind that I could not recall ever reading or hearing in the news about anybody being assaulted or harmed by a cockroach. Now was it the cockroach that was responsible for the histrionic behaviour?

If so, why was the waiter not equally disturbed? he seemed to handle the situation to near perfection, without any chaos.

The truth is that it was not the cockroach but the inability of the others to handle the situation and the disturbance that caused the problem.

It is not the criticism of others or the behaviour of others that disturbs me but my inability to handle the criticism or behaviour. It is not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by traffic that disturbs me. 

More than the problem, it is my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life. Rather than look to others or elsewhere for the disturbances of my moments and life I need to look at myself to nurture a calmness that can quietly learn to cope with the turmoils of daily living. 

So step one, I am going to stop moaning about those energy cans and take a container with me and just quietly lift them and take them to where they should be.

Have a calm and wonderful stress-free day. 

  

 Speech