10 minutes a day - leaf watching

This is the part of the year when new years resolutions loom large in peoples minds..

The problem with these normally is that peoples metaphorical eyes are bigger than their metaphorical bellies. My lads are masters at this, filling their bowls to the brim with milk at breakfast and then discovering that their little stomachs would stretch and then explode violently if they tried to drink it all, they then have to listen to my famous ' think about the kids in Africa' speech as I pour the milk away.

My speech does need some work however, the lads still have not worked out what avoiding lions and buffalo on the way to school and the current over production and corrupt subsidiary system of milk in the EU have to do with each other.

This is the way with resolutions...rather than saying to yourself I intend to run 25 miles a week, or learn a new language, I recommend opting for the 10 mins a day principle...

Anyone can mange to do 10 mins a day of anything (stand fast readers currently incarcerated in Americas ' Cuban Bay' Hotel facility and those addicted to cocaine). 10 mins running a day might not seem alot but that's 70mins a week...which works out at 3640mins a year...that's nigh on 61 hours of running, which even if you were only jogging could easily amount to the equivalent of about 12 marathons (which if you do the math is one a month). One marathon a month! That would be quite an achievement, but if your resolution was a marathon a month you would struggle to mentally deal with the enormity of the task.

To all you runners I accept there is a smidgen of a difference between running a marathon and running the parts of the marathon in bite sized chunks - but you get my meaning.

My resolution? Spend 10 mins of everyday looking at something natural whilst outside (leaf, plant, cloud, frost, dead squirrel etc).....its working out great!

There are quite a few 'other' things which lend themselves to a quick 10 mins a day, I will leave it to your imagination but I almost went with 'bouncing on a trampoline', listening to music upside down or toe picking whilst balanced on the side of the bath.

Incidentally if you do opt for the 10 mins outside looking resolution you should have in your back pocket an excuse, I have already been accosted by an old woman who demanded to know what was so interesting in her garden...I simply told her I was looking for my pet beetle which had been missing since the Epiphany, I gave a brief description made my excuses and ambled off (never run).

My beetle is the 'daddy' if you get my meaning.