It’s a funny old saying isn’t it? “Weather permitting”. I came across it on a children’s TV programme this week, where they were trying to point out all the things you could do “weather permitting”. I suppose it means that we can only do something if the weather is just right. And how many times in our lives have we said it. “Oh, I’ll do it when I’ve tidied up the cupboards/finished the housework/mowed the lawn”, or whatever thing we feel we ‘need’ to do first. Certain conditions which have to be met before we can actually sit down and write that book, take up Yoga, learn a new skill or whatever we’ve been promising ourselves that we’ll do ‘someday’. However, isn’t it just possible that we’ll never get around to doing those things? I’m sure there’s an unwritten law somewhere, that says work, like clutter, always expands to fill the space available. You know how you think you’re going to have so much more time when you retire, or leave work, or go part-time? Then when it actually comes, after a few weeks, you say to yourself “how did I ever find the time to go out to work?” The point is, we can all find plenty of excuses for not doing a thing, even if it’s something we’ve always wanted to do. My meditation group people are always saying how they never get time to meditate outside of group, no matter how well intentioned they are. Yet how much better would our day flow if we could find just five minutes a day doing something as relaxing as meditation first thing in the morning? And soon, the practice would become part of the daily routine. Something to be done like showering and brushing teeth, regardless of the time factor. It occurs to me that life is so precious and short that we really ought not to waste a moment of it. Sure, there are jobs which have to be done and we should do those, of course, but we should also make time for the little pleasures in life. The things we have always said we would like to do but never got around to. And we should begin them right now. If we wait for the right conditions, we may always be waiting. It also occurs to me that as our thoughts create our lives, then all the little things that come up to stop us doing what we want are simply a subconscious way of playing avoidance. In which case, we would never get around to doing anything. So please, don’t be a ‘weather permitting’ type of person. Take charge of your life. Give yourself whatever permission and inspiration you need and really go for it!