It’s late here in the UK and I’m still working, 22:00 to be precise. One of the joys of working in a global role within a global organisation is that sometimes you have to join calls with people in different time zones.

Not only is it late, but I’m also tired and have a headache. I’ve already taken some paracetamol but it is only numbing the pain rather than taking it away altogether.

When I have finished this call I am looking forward to leaving this desk, releasing my hands from the keyboard and getting into the shower. Standing in the shower I know that my headache will subside and the tight muscles in my neck will relax.

A few years ago now, when we moved house, one of the things we looked for was a good shower. The shower in our current home has certainly lived up to our requirements.

I have spent hundreds of hours stood in showers over the years, and I don’t regret any of them. Standing in the flow is so therapeutic that it is very precious indeed.

Sometimes I stand in the shower and imagine that I am sat beneath a waterfall.

Sometimes I imagine that the show is a wave crashing over me.

Standing there I am taken out of my immediate surroundings and taken to a much more relaxed place.

The shower is also a great place to think. There are many times when I am trying to get my head around something that a shower provides the answer.

“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.”

Nolan Bushnell

I have something of a routine for weekday mornings. This routine often involves a good long walk before I start work.

For the last few months this walk has been completely in the dark. Leave in the dark, come back in the dark. Everything is still shut down. Not much wildlife can be bothered to out and about in the cold and the dark. Neighbours walking their dogs are just black shadows somewhere in the distance.

Today was different.

Today I left in the dark, but I came back in the light. Today the birds were in a spiraling competition to have the loudest call. Blackbird alarm calls were shooting off in every direction. Today the rabbits white tails were bobbing across the grass seeking cover. Today there was a slight glisten on the brook.

Today I walked into the light. 

Walking is so rich with meaning – the changing of the light seemed to bring these meanings into clear focus.

Walking means steady progress. Each step forward is a step forward, it’s not a radical painful wrench it’s a step forward. Each step forward was a step into a new day with new opportunities.

Walking means rhythm. Each step was followed by another step, and another. Each day’s walk is a step further in the rhythm of the seasons. Last week I walked in the dark. This week I leave in the light and come back in the dark. Next week I will probably leave in the light and come back in the light.

As I was walking I was reminded of a Bob Dylan song:

Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.

Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind,
Say, “Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign.”
What kind of sign they need when it all come from within,
When what’s lost has been found, what’s to come has already been?

Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.

Shake the dust off of your feet, don’t look back.
Nothing now can hold you down, nothing that you lack.
Temptation’s not an easy thing, Adam given the devil reign
Because he sinned I got no choice, it run in my vein.

Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord.