We're sort of into the nuts and bolts of living mindfully with today's video - but, remember, nuts and bolts tend to hold things together! And we're talking about keeping your head together and getting it together when it comes to every moment of your life. However, at the risk of being accused of repeating myself, I need, once again, to WARN YOU about the difference between mindfulness and purposeful mindfulness.

I quote Thich Nhat Hanh in today's video - the author of, amongst many related books, The Miracle of Mindfulness. His book is about pure mindfulness. He teaches pure mindfulness on a plum farm, near Bordeaux, in Western France. So, the first point I want to make is that neither you nor I have the kind of lifestyle that involves padding barefoot across a sunlit veranda, basking in the aroma of plums! We live real lives with real responsibilities. In my case, without the perceived comfort of a regular salary, I have to put bread on the table - or, in fact, tables... my three university-going "children" are still on the payroll! You may find yourself in a similar position - or have the kind of big salary that's here today, gone tomorrow - such are the vagaries of corporate life! So, that's the first point - by all means read The Miracle of Mindfulness, in fact, I would recommend it. But remember that pure mindfulness needs to be applied practically.

In the same vein, I noticed a book, whilst strolling through Dublin Airport on Saturday, called Mindfulness - A Practical Guide, subtitled, "how to find inner peace" - with a foreward by Jon Kabat-Zinn - another mover and shaker in the wonderful world of mindfulness. However, I would draw your attention to the subtitle. Mindfulness is being peddled as a means to inner peace. And, whilst that is a prerequisite to putting bread on the table, it will not do it of its own accord.

Hence my warning. Mindfulness is wonderful. Peace of mind is cool! Stopping the noise in your head (remember, there are 70,000 bits of it flying through your head just today) enables us see the wood for the trees. But what wood? What trees? What do you want to achieve? What are your goals? What are your objectives? What do you want out of your life? What do you want out of today? What do you want out of now? What's your purpose in doing what you're doing now? Until you're 100% sure about what your purpose is now, you can't be purposefully mindful now. And that is just another route to nowhere!

Tuesday February 24th, 2015 - Dublin

I spend most of last week drying out... I was in Ireland - wind and rain such as I've rarely seen... and I'm Irish!!!

Thursday afternoon, having arrived back at my brother's apartment in North Dublin, I settled down to writing a business proposal in French... never an easy task. And, as with such tasks, I quickly became engrossed in what I was doing. After a while, however, I noticed an incessant noise outside and said to myself: "No, my ears must be deceiving me... never on a day like today!"

Not only was it pouring rain but an Atlantic storm, codenamed Rachel, was battering the country with winds with an average speed of 80kms per hour and guts of 120kms - all manner of stuff was blowing in all directions. And that is why I couldn't believe my ears.

I had to stop what I was doing - because what was going on was too good to miss. In 120km per hour winds, two guys, landscape gardeners with big machines on their backs were... wait for it... blowing leaves into neat piles... not! And, presumably, some half-wit was paying for the service!