News from Mr Grady
Hello everyone,
This week, typing my usual newsletter musings is actually quite a painful affair. This is because over two days, I've injured either my hand or fingers on three separate occasions. The first injury was whilst I was slicing a potato, and as I cut through the potato, the knife sliced briefly into the fleshy part of my palm next to my forefinger. I have been cutting potatoes for years and have never done this. Then, the following day, whilst reaching for a drawer handle, I caught my fingernail and bent it right back. Middle finger. Same hand. The same day, as I was cooking, I hadn't realised the handle of a saucepan was also slightly over the flame of the cooker, and so as I put my hand to it, burnt the tip of the middle finger on my other hand. That one really hurt.
I am not normally a clumsy person. I normally take great care around the kitchen, so what is the cause of this self-injury spree? My wife maintains it's concentration, or in this case a lack of it. I suspect I have to agree, but with the added reflection of not making sure I'm in the present enough to take care of myself.
I suspect we might all have this as an issue at the moment. We're so busy thinking about what we might need to be doing later, or what we were doing earlier on, we're not concentrating enough on what we're doing now. On each of the occasions when I injured myself the pain bought me crashing back to what I was actually doing, and after feeling a bit foolish for such easily avoidable injuries, I then took greater care.
With us all pottering about our homes with everyone else also doing the same thing, I think we should all take care to make sure we're focusing on the present, because it is so easy, when you're in familiar surroundings, but not concentrating, to make those unforced errors that lead in a direct line to the first aid box.
As we're all trying to make sure we relieve pressure on our health service, we should be taking extra-special care not to add any further burdens. I cannot begin to tell you how embarrassed I'd have been if any of my minor injuries had meant I'd have to call 111, or visit the Doctor or A&E! I'm sure they have far more important things to be dealing with.
We all have to do our bit, and if taking that extra bit of care as we go about our daily lives means we take a little more time to do things, then I think that's very sensible indeed. Take it from someone who's currently typing with 25% fewer working fingers...
Best wishes,
Mr Grady