lucky – Pete's Blog

Mandy and I spent a couple of nights this week in our favourite hotel – Swinton Park in North Yorkshire, For us this was total luxury.

For a start, the hotel is a castle, owned by the Earl and Countess of Swinton. We were upgraded to a suite, and when not in our room there are multiple reception rooms with open fires and sofas to lounge around. There is even a Billiard Room with a full sized snooker table. There is the formal Samuel’s Restaurant and the more relaxed Terrace, both serving amazing food. On the second night we shared a Cote de Boeuf which was simply perfect.

As well as the hotel, there are extensive grounds with woodland, a deer park and lakes to walk the dogs. And a large Spa has pools, saunas and a steam room, to wash away the troubles of the world. I was even given a personal history tour of the hotel with someone who has been working there for 40 years and knew just about everything about the estate.

We have returned much relaxed and ready for our next adventure. But I wonder if this would be luxury for everyone. The rich and famous must live like this all the time. I wonder if luxury for King Charles is to kick his shoes off and watch Coronation Street with beans and toast on his lap. I wonder if luxury for Bill Gates is a day with no meetings.

I am not sure I would like to live in such opulence all the time, but for a couple of days it was my luxury.

I am a lucky man.

This week I watched a whole cricket test match for the first time. A couple of blogs ago I wrote about learning to love American Football (well done the Buccaneers). At least with cricket I know the rules. And I have been to a day of a test match before – it requires a very different mindset to watching short form cricket such as 20:20. You settle into your seat, and read a newspaper or have a drink while the game goes on slowly slowly. One of my followers, Matt, commented that American Football is like chess with violence. Test cricket is like chess but slower. And this week I committed to all five days of England against India.

For many people, the idea of spending five days watching a sports game would seem to be a complete waste of time. Especially when one of the likely outcomes is a draw. But the opportunity for me was a luxury that I would never have chosen when I was working. And I found it to bring a kind of mindfulness.

Over the years I have practiced a little amateur meditation in order to wash away the cares in my mind. By actions such as concentrating on relaxing areas of my body, I have found a peacefulness that has helped during times of stress. I found the test match did much the same for me. There were moments of excitement when I sat forward to see whether a wicket would be taken or runs scored. But for much of the time I found that repeated quiet defensive play became really quite relaxing.

Now I should confess that in UK time, each day started at 4am, so I missed the first hour or two. I also often took the dogs out in the snow while listening to the match on my headphones. But I think the principle of enjoying slow play still applies. So much so that I plan to watch the second test starting tomorrow.

Most of us live in a rush where we resent wasted time. Technology such as mobile phones has made this worse. How many of us look at our phones whenever we get a spare 30 seconds? Even when we go on holiday, too many of us are “always on”. So I think I am privileged to be learning that taking time just to be me can be so rewarding.

Have you ever watched a test match? Or maybe took several days to do as little as possible? Let me know.

Tag: lucky

What is luxury?

Is five days watching a sports game a waste of your time?