It has not been a good week. It started with an unexpected family death. The shock and the sadness is bad enough but throw in the ensuing challenges of dealing with the Coroner and then the funeral plan provider and it has become an extremely stressful time. The problem wasn’t with the Coroner (he was delightful when I finally spoke to him) but the failure of the police to give him a contact number. This led to a delay in getting the death certificate. 

And now the funeral is being held up by funeral plan provider who by design or incompetence (who knows) won’t confirm redemption of the plan. Note to the world. Ignore the numerous adverts for such plans. When I was recovering from surgery it felt that every other advert was playing to the anxieties of those that were worried about leaving their loved ones with the burden of funeral costs. It is a huge business. But buying the policy is easy. Getting the provider (probably the largest in the industry) to even speak to you after the death of the purchaser is nigh on impossible.

So not a good time. And made even more stressful by other things crowding in. As stated by Benjamin Franklin ‘in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes’. So there has also been the joy of self-assssment and a tax payment out of my post Christmas finances when I’d much rather spend my hard earned cash on getting a tan.

I’m also challenged by technology. As part of the assessment for my Professional Coaching qualification I have to share the recording of my sessions with the assessor through Dropbox. I have yet come across anyone that finds sharing from Dropbox easy. And I am failing big time. I’ve also tried Googledocs and OneDrive but the assessor is still not receiving the file in the correct format. Although I’m starting to suspect that the problem is not at my end.

Finally, my gym has introduced standards which I will never be able to achieve. I know that common sense tells me that I should only focus on my own progression and at nearly 60 (only 10 weeks) I’m not going to be able to lift as much as a 30 year old but I am, absurdly, questioning whether I’m just wasting my time. 

So I’m feeling fairly low which is unusual. I’m not sleeping that well and my anxiety is bubbling away. I need to stand tall, brush myself down and regain my positively. First stop is a spa day with my school friends. Part of our 60th birthday celebrations. Hopefully by next week normal service will have been resumed.