My mind was already flooded by a long to do list by 8 a.m. today.

Within half an hour the to do list assumed a life of it's own and became pretty elaborate , very colorful, very... impossible.

It does often seem to me that my mind is able to construct very elaborate thoughts all by itself.

The to do list was one of them. All of a sudden there it was leaving no trace of how it came to be and I am left the job to question, keep or dismiss the thought construction.

So ...with some effort..I made a priority scale and started working through this list.

I haven't been working for a few months now.

Work gave me a structure.

One thing was certain, five times a week I had to be at a certain location between time a and time b.

Now infinite options are available to me.

It's both wonderful and overwhelming.

I am in New York and there is a lot to do .

Just walking in the streets is a very enriching experience.

I am constantly amazed at the life pulsing out and about in all its various forms .

People of all ages and colors and creeds going about with some mission big or small.

My quest to go slowly today took a completely different turn.

I usually need to slow down from moving too fast.

I did that for a short moment with my endless to do list but the biggest achievement for me today was moving slowly from a standstill.

Yes, after thinking/reflecting on how far ahead of me my brain had taken me I suddenly came to a complete stop. Brain and body.

After rebooting, I focused all my energy into mailing an important document. After which I made the super super effort to walk to the pool and swim..for me!

I did NOT feel like walking in the heat and all the way to the pool, let alone swim and no one was pushing me and I had to chose to do it !

So here comes the pole pole ...slowly slowly ...this is not negotiable! My other priority as the day unfolded was to consciously cut out sprouting to do lists from my brain and focus on feeling my environment.

I delighted in the view of the east river. Once I got to the pool I thoroughly enjoyed my swim and made the extra effort to swim just a little more.... do one more step..but alias I fell into the speedy thing ..and ended up doing a lot more...well that was a good more actually, I'm not as unfit as I thought. The only drawback is that it's a busy pool with lanes and people don't always respect the speed assignments so I was doing fine in my own lane until a lady popped into my lane and began mmm doggy paddling, yes exactly in a fast lane. What was she thinking?? I overtook her a few times and she still didn't get the message and the slow lane next door was empty!!!

So my mind starts flooding with thoughts of unfairness and disrespect etc... and I thought, either I tell her or I move so since I have trouble with confrontation.. ( am working on it though ) I moved to the slow lane and finished my work out...and swam extra! Good enough for today.

I used to swim everyday before work in Nairobi at a hotel near my work place and thus was pretty spoilt as I almost always had the pool to myself. This is a learning experience. Sharing space. It's New York...not only on the streets , even in the water.

In the locker room I had a very interesting conversation with a random nice lady who was coming in for a class.

Mmm I thought that was nice. What makes my day in the end are the good or bad interactions with other people.

I also made time to go to the rooftop and watch the river for a bout 15 minutes. The picture above is that view with my phone.

I am now going to head to the kitchen to prepare a lovely dinner for my lovely husband and I.

I am putting all my creativity to use to make a healthy, tasty meal with love.

The menu is ....:

Sicilian orange salad: oranges nicely cleaned and sliced and dressed with salt, olive oil, black olives and freshly ground pepper.

Healthy burgers: Beef patties cooked as desired and served in a "bun" made of grilled aubergine and romaine salad! Yummy!

So this for me was a good day!