It’s so easy for us to slip out of being mindful of the present moment and this is when accidents can happen

So there she is, sitting on a bench eating her sandwiches whilst admiring the bluebells, it’s a beautiful day . . . about to be shattered. Up she gets with her mind thinking about what she has next planned. You can almost imagine it happening in slow motion, can’t you? As she places her foot on the ground, she slips on some unseen bluebells growing next to the bench. As she falls backwards, her right hand automatically moves behind her to break her fall. Unfortunately, she lands awkwardly and snap! Her wrist is broken. Pain shoots up her arm instantly telling her something isn’t right.

Sitting on the ground now, she takes a moment to absorb what’s just happened and looks down at her wrist. Oh, that doesn’t look right. Indeed, it doesn’t, and there seems to be something preventing her from moving her hand in the normal way. That’ll be because of the broken bones, my dear.

A moment of forgetfulness is all it takes to ruin your day

And for the unfortunate lady (my partner) in the previous paragraph, the next six weeks, are going to be a challenge. Having taken my partner to the A&E department in Torquay (who did a fantastic job) I witnessed the rather traumatic process of her having the radius bone in her wrist reset. The break is called a distal radius fracture.

Injections (some kind of pain killer), gas and air (nitrous oxide) all administered and the pulling began. It took three of them: one to pull the hand whilst another held the elbow and the third wrapped the setting plaster. It’s a very painful way to learn about the importance of having the mind firmly in the present moment.

When placing one foot in front of the other, we often leave this up to our unconscious mind, with the other part of our mind elsewhere. Thich Nhat Hanh actually developed a mindfulness exercise called Mindful Walking. It’s when we place all of our focus and attention on the very thing we’re doing in that moment. Not always possible. And yet if we practice mindfulness, gained from the art of meditation, we are less likely to experience accidents. Forgetfulness is when we fail to remain present.

Get well soon my love, I promise to do my best, at looking after you. x