¶ Welcome and Birthday Reflections
Hi there, and welcome back to another episode of the Stephen's Evolution podcast . I'm Stephen McHugh , your host , and it is in this podcast where I talk about my lived experiences with autism , by aiming to bring them to life through metaphors .
This episode is another short one , like last time , and partly because it's summer here in the UK, well , the Northern Hemisphere . And of course , we're all into longer days , plus , with the days being longer , there'll likely be more time to spend outdoors and on leisure activities and with friends and family .
In addition , at the time of recording , it's also been my birthday recently . That has got me thinking about the year just gone . On each birthday , our age increases by one .
¶ Life as a Summer River
Now that I've decided to share one small reflection , rather than a long list of lessons , which would be life lately has felt like a river in the summer . The rivers that flow when you think about them . They don't always flow fast , sometimes they flow slowly and calmly , and sometimes they're meandering . At other times they can be muddy .
When the river is flowing slower , it can be harder to read , but there's one thing that's obvious to us they keep on moving around rocks , stones , plants or anything else that may be coming up through the water , thus creating new paths for the water to flow , like alternative paths if required . And that's how a recent experience has felt .
Not linear , not always fast , I mean . What I mean is the past year hasn't always felt not always fast , but the important thing for me is, it's always been in motion and still is , even when it feels like , on occasions when progress , when it like , isn't noticeable .
¶ Park Run Changed Plans
A little over a week ago , I went to my local park run , like I have been doing for over a year . It's become a routine for me on Saturday . I got there . However , as soon as I arrived, like when I got to the main car park , after going along a road through the park leading up to it , to the car park , I could see people turning around .
The main one was full . The usual overflow parking area happened to be closed on this occasion . I likely guessed it was too wet and soft , especially after the night before when it had rained very heavily for a while . For me, the reason was likely ground preservation . But here's the birthday reflection that comes in here .
Even if the gate to this overflow area had been open , I would have likely decided against going in there . I wasn't comfortable with the idea of getting stuck or leaving a mess . It wouldn't have likely been wise , however tempting it might have been . It reminds me of that phrase a year older , a year wiser .
As the years go by, the way I think about it is you get more knowledge , wisdom , and you become more wise through experience . Instead , I had to have an alternative plan . I decided to drive back home , since there wasn't any parking readily available on neighbouring streets . Fortunately , I have a local canal near my home, which has a path running alongside it .
There, I did my own 5k along the water .
¶ Canal Run Alternative
One difference was no crowds, and therefore no cheering . However , there were other people running alongside it as well , with other people going out on leisurely strolls, and even walking their dogs .
Besides me and the other people on the path of the canal , it was also the calmness of the canal, and the sound of my own footsteps , the footsteps of other people, and maybe a dog or two barking . It wasn't exactly the run I had planned when I think about it , but when I look at it , it helped me to feel better .
I managed to complete the 5k run alongside the canal in about the time it would have taken me to do the park run . I was reminded that adaptability can be gentle , even wise . When I think about it now , no river argues with a bend .
It just goes in the direction in which the river path is like , like in how it was carved out , or any stones that are above the water or plants growing above it that force it to deviate in a different direction . Maybe for me , that's one of the most valuable knowledge of this year, and that we can all learn .
It can be about learning to stop forcing things, and try and read well , try and read the current . When I think about it , wisdom can show us when it comes to being forced to do something a little bit differently, than you otherwise normally do that particular thing .
¶ Wisdom in Adaptability
And so that's my short birthday reflection . It is to go with the flow , like as a quiet kind of wisdom . A river doesn't always flow fast , it may flow slow , it may change directions depending on what's in its way in the water . However , it always finds a way forward , which is most important for me .
And now to you , my listeners, what plans have you had to change recently or at any time , and did the new path surprise you ? If so , how I'd be interested in
¶ Listener Question and Closing
hearing your version of the bend in a river . I'm always on the lookout for any questions or comments that may be posted by you . You can do this by texting the podcast via a link in the episode description . Thank you for taking the time to listen to this short episode with me today . I'll be back again in two weeks .
Until then , stay kind , stay curious and keep flowing .