| Find your green cathedral |
There's a Scots African farmer who, against all odds, built up a thriving farm, started a home for 28 orphaned black children and now speaks internationally.
He finds his inspiration when he spends time alone lying on his back in what he calls his 'green cathedral' - in among the 8 ft-high maize plants.
It's hard to see the big picture during our workplace equivalent of white water rafting, and when our first and last thoughts every day are about the rapids to be negotiated.
A measure of urgency gets things done, but unrelenting activity can squeeze out the essential time we need to find refreshment and keep overview and direction.
This is where green cathedrals come in: those havens to which we can withdraw for time out for reassessment, even amid the most demanding schedule.
Find a 'sanctuary' in the home and office, as well as somewhere within walking distance in each case.
It could be the bookshop coffee shop, a hillside or riverside walk or a secluded park.
And keep a pen and notebook handy to capture your best ideas and observations.
Your green cathedral time should vary in proportion to the time horizon you're reflecting on.
You might devote perhaps half an hour's reflection to the day ahead, and, say, 90 minutes to the week ahead.
If you're among the UK's 20 million who pray outside church, pray too.
To revisit the rafting analogy: consider if you're paddling in the right river and, if so, where you're boat's heading.
And what's the state of your boat and your crew?
Ask and ponder similar questions also of your physical, relational and spiritual life.
As Wordsworth wrote: 'When from our better selves we have too long been parted by the hurrying world, and droop. Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, how gracious, how benign in solitude.'
So where will your green cathedral be?
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