BARMY ABOUT BOOKS

The next meeting for Barmy About Books will be at Mark Hix restaurant in Lyme Regis on wednesday 7th November at 12 noon, see my website for more details. I am an avid reader and enjoy our sessions at Hix restaurant over a light lunch. We learn about books that we may not otherwise come across. this is the joy of our book club, you bring along a book that you have enjoyed we don’t have a set book to read. As a result of hosting Charmouth Literary Festival in September,I met John Bryant who has written several books mainly on sporting events, and he gave me a copy of his book, Chris Brasher, The man who made the London Marathon. I have only just got around to reading it and I can hardly put it down. I remember reading Brasher’s column in The Observer during the eighties and considering being one of his guinea pigs to run in the London Marathon.I never did anything about it. Life had kicked in, I was a single parent working full time. But I was much younger, fitter, healthier and stupid not to have a go. Bryant assures me that it is never too late to start training and pick up the baton. Each chapter in his book has a quote and this is one that resonated with me, ‘I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you’re a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you’ll win – if you don’t, you won’t.’ Bruce Jenner

STICK WITH IT

STICK WITH IT

I’ve nearly finished my next book. Notice that word, nearly. It is a like I’ve nearly lost that weight and I’ve nearly got fit and I’ve nearly got around to phoning a friend. What does it take to keep going to the end. It takes determination, self discipline and somebody else who is championing you. I run several courses for called, With Women In Mind, and I know that on the day people get all fired up and go away with good intentions then reality sets in. Old habits die hard and it is difficult to fight for what you want. Set small targets. When  go swimming, I set myself a target of twenty lengths. After fifteen I start to get bored ploughing up and down. After sixteen I think, that’ll do. Then I push myself on and after eighteen I think I’ve done quite well I’ll call it a day. No, absolutely not, keep going just another two lengths. Whatever the challenge stay focused, go about it in a different way and make a move. One small step leads to another and before you know it you are going down a different path. By doing nothing, nothing happens. I know that and believe me I also know that it takes a lot of determination to keep at what it is that you want to achieve. Change the way you think and change the way you dress, Change the route you take and don’t look back.