Podcast 10 minutes 53
https://deechadwick.co.uk/blog/sod-it-rules-ok
I have to say that ‘sod it’ has been long been my mantra, but one that has been springing to my lips far more often over the past weeks.
IT RULED AS I FINISHED MY INTRODUCTION
I have come outside to write in the shade on my swinging bench. Then, parent long tail tits brought their offspring out to forage. I have heard cheeps from an old tree for several days. The cheepers are obviously now fledged and beginning to learn how to fend for themselves. They are flitting through and around the nearby shrubs, cheeping as they go. I gave up on writing and then on trying to count them. Instead I relaxed and watched. Included in my viewing are a pair of wood pigeons cooing and strutting proudly around the lawn. A couple of chaffinches checking out what is available to tempt their appetite on the feeder. The blackbird with one white feather is also hopping around the lawn, pausing to tilt its head and listen, presumably for any wriggly movements just under the grass. Blue tits are investigating other shrubs and the sparrows, of course, flit around always busy keeping their families in the various bird houses fed. Beaks popping out to check on where the next mouthful is coming from. D’you know, it would have been rude not to have given my undivided attention to some of the inhabitants of my garden wouldn’t it? I may tend to the garden and pay the bills but it is as much their territory as it is mine. ‘Sod it’ well and truly ruled and served me well.
WHEN ELSE HAS IT RULED FOR ME? – As I said, ‘sod it’ has been a mantra of mine for a long time. It has enabled me to abandon a task and have a brain break, a brew break or a breather break. Said break takes place straight away rather than having to go through an inner discussion involving persuasion and sometimes more than a little self bribery! The same applies if I am buying something that may be a little over budget or not at the top of the needs pile. I either say ‘sod it’ and walk away, rather like ripping off a plaster instead of uumming and aahing; or I bite the bullet and make the purchase. Decision made.I allow ‘sod it’ to make times of focusing on totally healthy eating and going for lots of walks more interesting. As in ‘sod it’ you can have that chocolate; ‘sod it’ you can skip your walk as the rain is falling too hard. The words sort of seem to salve my conscience and cut out that old self-debating again. So, I am saving valuable time – now that sounds like as good an excuse as any for its use!So, ‘sod it’ does rule, but I don’t let that ruling get out of hand, therefore, I am OK with its use. I endeavour to keep my sensible head firmly screwed on. Note to self – time to reflect on your use of endeavour in that sentence. Has said endeavouring become a little lax during lockdown?
WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT – As a geologist, I remember the phrase that a diamond is nothing more than a piece of coal that did well under pressure. Maybe you are one of those people who responds well to stress, to pressure, so long as the high levels of stress do not have to be maintained over extended periods. Maybe for such people saying ‘sod it’ is kept for further along the line than for others. A luxury that many carers and health care workers across the world have not been able to employ until they reached exhaustion point. For them, ‘sod it’ has not been an option.For others, if you are living with such as anxiety or depression maybe what have done has been to hold yourself together, actually get out of bed and go on to put one foot in front of the other. Then you had had enough. If so, you too did well, though you may have beaten yourself up that your ‘sod it’ came to mind and was put into action at what you felt was far too early a point in your day. It is so hard for those who have never struggled with such mental health issues to begin to understand the strength and determination it can take for others to achieve what are simple tasks for them. That ‘sod it’ is said with as much feeling, as great a sense of relief, as for those who have physically toiled hard.It is far too easy to dismiss the problems that others have as being inconsequential. It is also a stick that people struggling with mental health issues use to beat themselves up. They maybe don’t have the physical, financial, social problems of others, so why can’t they just say ‘sod it’ to their mental health problems, and get on with things. Oh that it was that easy.The invisibility of the actual illness doesn’t lessen its ability to overwhelm… then add in that there are the physical affects thrown in for good measure – aches and pains, the loss of appetite, the stomach upsets etc etc.
SO LET SOD IT RULE
