I wish I had the energy of a sparrow.

Well at this moment anyway, as I write this (I’m uploading later) I am looking outside the window the amount of small bird activity is quite impressive. They are nest building (well you have to assume that a beak full of fluff is intended for a nest) in between bouts of noisy squabbling that could be the avian version of romance or territorial dispute or perhaps both. But for such small birds they certainly have a lot of energy. Maybe that is why in Disney movies the little woodland creatures always get press-ganged into a slave labour force for whichever generic princess type happens to need some housework doing.

I’m quite jealous of our little friends I was suffereing one of those days that have not really gotten started.

I think we all have days like that. They start too soon to begin with, as though someone has fiddled with your alarm clock to move it at least a couple of hours fast – I mean, it cannot be that time already can it? And from that point you are always going to be fighting a losing battle as you wade through the treacle of the day. I hate days like this. A bit like being a Newcastle United supporter (especially this season) after a few attempts at trying to get anything useful done you realise it is largely pointless and then you want to just throw your arms in the air and just give up for the day (or indeed the season) and just go back to bed and hope tomorrow arrives in a better mood.

But life of course does not make that really an option. For a start I have work to do and there is something just plain wrong about throwing a day away completely – if only because you do not know you will have one tomorrow. Well, of course you hope for it but there are no guarantees.

So, how do you get yourself kick started?

For some it is just force of will (‘pulling themselves together’) but I’ve never been strong on the willpower front so I need a bit more of a boost. For some that might be a treat (providing you do not feel guilty about the chocolate afterwards). Maybe motivational music is your thing. For me, it probably comes down to going for a run or at least a brisk walk.

The Lovely Wife has pointed out on numerous occasions that if I am in some kind of grump then going for a run tends to bring me out of it. Beyond the obvious physical benefits and the subsequent ‘runners high’ (which certainly exists for me, if I’m placed in a position where I cannot run for several days I become increasingly tetchy due to withdrawal) it gives me time to think, to be away from whatever was dragging me down or to pray. In the case of day that is not going anywhere it also means that I can feel I’ve achieved something in doing some exercise (which my cheerful little fitness tracker gleefully congratulates me on) so I’m already making some inroads into the day being not completely pointless.

So as the aches reside I can perhaps get back to all the other things that need doing with a small amount of positivity. The next step for me is to be realistic about what I am going to achieve. Start with the small things, the simple things and leave the large complicated stuff to a day when you feel full of beans (if at all possible). Put the pile of clean clothes away in the wardrobe that has been sitting there for several days. Send the couple of emails that you’ve been planning to send to old friends to check how they are. Do some washing up. I’m quite amazed on what can be achieved even on an off day.

But I wish it was easier, I’d be lying otherwise.