It hadn't been a good day. One of those days when it seemed anything that could go wrong did go wrong. A couple of daft errors at work. You know the sort, silly wee oversights which can be fixed but can prey on your mind for the rest of the day,
Then the computer chose to freeze on me - just as I was in the middle of a major piece of work. Naturally, I hadn't saved what I had done when I had to switch the machine off and turn it on again. For some reason, the words I typed on the screen all seemed to be gobbledygook - typos ruled the roost.
Frustrated, I left the office for a break at lunchtime and a brief walk to clear my mind. And it started to rain. More frustration as I aborted my walk and headed back to the office - only to find the lift was broken. And I work on the seventh floor...
At the end of the day, when I left the office, mentally exhausted after a trying day, I had to fight for a seat on a packed bus. Sitting next to a loud young man who was having a loud conversation with his pal - two seats behind him.
As the bus snaked its way through the city there were roadworks everywhere. It seemed to take an eternity to get home. Tired and irritated, I opted for a fish supper on the way home to save having to make an effort to cook - only to find the chip shop was closed for refurbishment.
We all have days like those so it's just not me. However, I sat down eventually that evening and thought about all the things that had gone wrong that day. I closed my eyes and visualised these things scattered over a field, like fences for a showjumping horse to overcome. In the corner of a field was a hot-air balloon. In my mind, I wondered over to the balloon and climbed inside before letting it go.
As the balloon rose slowly into the sky, I looked down on all the day's problems scattered across the field. As the balloon rose higher and higher, those problems became smaller and smaller, to the extent they were no longer affecting me the way they had earlier in the day. They were now becoming insignificant, things no longer bothering me.
After you have a difficult day, where would your balloon be?
