Fr. David Pickett, Rector St Oswald’s, Guiseley and St Paul’s, Esholt

OH, my goodness! Isn’t life busy? This last month seems to have passed by at a speed known only to Usain Bolt. It began by saying goodbye to Halloween and hello to Bonfire Night, was pretty much bisected by Remembrance week, and then galloped along towards Advent and all that follows. Throw into the mix a madly fought general election and you’d be forgiven for locking yourself in a room with a stiff drink and a good novel, telling the rest of the world to ‘go do one!’

I’ve lost count of the number of people that I talk to who feel frazzled and out of control; what with families, jobs, social lives and the inevitable merry-go-round of niff-naff and trivia that seems to demand our constant attention. With only 24 hours in a day it seems that life really is too short. No wonder then that symptoms of depression and increased blood pressure are at an all time high.

So, how do we counteract this frenetic lifestyle? STOP! It’s as simple as that. Take time out to relax, to charge/recharge the batteries.

When I went through theological training at Mirfield College of the Resurrection, near Dewsbury, we were encouraged to take 20 minutes each day with God – preferably before the day began. This time allowed us to feel at peace, to compute thoughts into actions and make sense of what was affecting us mentally.

Of course, not everyone has an opportunity to do something like this, and not everyone has a faith. But we all have the capacity to take a number of minutes in the day to just close our eyes and listen to the beat of our heart; to listen to the inner self and what it has to say. We may not always find the answer, but it is in the searching that we truly connect with ourselves.

And we really do need to connect with our inner selves, especially the child we once were; that child who lived for the moment, for the fun of the moment, whose pockets were empty, but whose mind was free. Where did that child go? Bring that child back!

We can’t fully escape the trials and tribulations of this busy life because we have responsibilities, responsibilities that demand of us time and effort; responsibilities that make us falsely believe that we are indispensable. But we also have a responsibility to ourselves, to that inner child we once were. Like the oxygen mask on the aircraft we must attend to ourselves before we can help others.

So, we need to find time each day to either meditate, pray or just listen to the beat of our heart, because by doing that not only do we help ourselves, but we also equip ourselves to help others. If all else fails, take a tip from Stephen Hawking: ‘I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college: I was too busy having a good time.’