Off the Lead
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This week it's a walk.
Wednesday. Victoria Park with Mum and Angus.
Since my run in with a magpie, I've been choosing parks over streets. Open space feels safer. Today the trees are full of cockatoos, screeching, busy with their own business, not interested in people or a small white dog.
So I let Angus off the lead. He goes where his nose tells him. Mum and I follow at his pace, not ours.
Nothing in particular happens. Clear sky. Soft light through the gums. Grass, paths, birds. We just notice it.
A run asks something of you. Pace, effort, the next kilometre. A walk asks nothing at all.
Without a plan to follow, I start seeing what the run moves too fast to see. The light. The noise overhead. Angus stopping to smell something that clearly matters to him.
Letting him off the lead gives him freedom. It gives me some too. Nothing to measure, nothing to prove. Just being there.
Not every good day needs a moment. Some are good because nothing interrupts them.
Where in your week could you let go of the lead, and simply notice what's around you?
P.S. Running for something bigger than yourself is close to the heart of the Community chapter in Habits for a 1% Better Life.
Each week I donate a hard copy to a local street library, because a good book should keep moving. This week's run puts another one out into the world.
