Just a thought on daily hectic life and things a lot of us deal with. I for one struggle with anxiety at times, not nearly as bad as some but there are times when it gets tough to handle and I just want to lay down and do nothing. So today I, out of the blue took my youngest daughter, who is 7 and the absolute apple of my eye, to the river. Almost instantaneously I felt a wave of calm come over me and we stopped walking and told her to listen... The peacefulness of the running water and the late summer cicadas chirping away. To my delight our favorite spot was empty so we had it all to ourselves, we both made a couple cairns ( those rock towers you see randomly placed) and took our shoes off to wade in the water. It brings me so much happiness to see my daughter so delighted with nature and when she tells me this was the best day ever. If only we could have that happiness always, it's very unfortunate there are so many stresses in our lives at times. I always say I don't do it enough but days like this is why I'm here, not to see how much money I can make and how many material possessions I can aquire. When I die I want to look back and smile because I took that time with my children, made wonderful memories and made an impact on someone. As far as clearing my mind, that was the point of our little journey today, because I know for me personally being in nature always help to do that. The thing is I also come away with a better outlook on life afterwards. Just a little positive thought I wanted to share.

I enjoyed reading that, very nice

Thank you joe, I truly appreciate that! You can call me yeti, my new nickname thanks to buzzy and 2em!

No problem mate, I've got two kids myself so I got what you were saying.

I loved reading this thank you so much for sharing...
There is nothing just getting off life's merry go around and just be.

This is lovely, Yeti! It's wonderful that you and your daughter can spend quiet time, enjoying nature together!

I enjoyed reading that too Yeti. Reminded me of when my girls were young and taking them to the river. It's important to create those kind of memories for your kids and slowing down once in a while.

Great way to calm your mind. Now when anxiety strikes you can try to focus solely on that one memory and hopefully it will calm you again.

Great advise Yeti. I suffer from anxiety too. If I can't get away to nature, stream an ambient video from Amazon. Either ocean waves or the sound of rain falling and close my eyes and it usually helps. Thanks so much for sharing your special experience.

me too