For the first time in 12 months, my right knee is feeling strong and stable. I haven’t needed to ice it in 3 weeks. The muscles around my knee, particularly the inside of the quads, are bulking up and the tone is back. However, I’ll never get back the medial cartilage that was removed last September. I turned 40 in March and at least a third of my male friends have had the same operation. By the fifth decade, our bodies start to wear out. A combination of abuse, heredity and just living life starts to catch up. In response …

Here is a gift from my beautiful neighbours. They lovingly created a 40th birthday message across our front doors at home. I felt honoured (and a little emotional) when I arrived home to see this after a birthday weekend away with family. And YES, I have just turned 40 … and YES, 1 of my nick-names is “TEDDY”. ‘Story of Name’ as a group process ‘Teddy’ is a nick-name that came from an spare-class that my dad took when in year 9 at High School. Somehow, he let slip that I still slept with a teddy (and yes I admit …

For the first time in weeks I haven’t uttered a single word for hours. I am alone, but not lonely. I’ve been practicing sitting meditation on the foreshore in Cowes. The tension in my hands and the sounds around me were particularly noticeable tonight … long after the sun dipped out of sight. Solitude is a precious gift and I am attracted to the wee challenges that solitude brings. For me, new and old questions emerge from time alone. Not during the ‘unfocussed’ and ‘busy’ times alone, but rather the times when we allow ourselves to be still … non …

Alexander (aka The Chief Happiness Officer) has written here about a work policy that could change the world! It’s simple … when the surf’s up, any staff member can drop what they are doing and go for a surf. Straight from Alexander’s post, here’s how the founder of the company Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard summed it up in a previous interview: I’m a businessman, but I’m still going to do things on my own terms. I’m going to break a lot of rules, and we’re going to blur the distinction between work and play. So we have a policy here – …

Today, my Gran is on her deathbed, and with family assembled around time seems to have slowed down a little. Fond memories of my childhood have flooded back – me and my sister spent countless weekend with her and Pa. They have remained together forever, married for 70 years and have a 1930’s-gritty-style of tenacity, courage and will to live and be together. They are Scottish through and through and their Glaswegian ways have never left them. My friend Chris Corrigan replied to an earlier tweet with some comforting words … “there is nothing more incredible to be in the …