PHYSICIAN, heal thyself! A well known phrase attributed to the bible. A phrase that has come to mind on several occasions over the last few weeks.

I have been recalling the themes of recent columns. Making life-changing decisions, managing the ups and downs of life, accepting that plans can change and living in the moment, rather than for the moment.

All of these themes I had previously experienced through life and the words I had written, returned to me.

Every word ringing true.

Our house sale was going ahead and we were going to move by Easter. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that we hadn’t found anywhere to purchase and had decided to rent a house for 12 months. Then a severe blow - the buyers experienced a family tragedy and pulled out.

We always knew that house sales weren’t over until the last minute, but knowing something and experiencing

something use different parts of the brain.

Emotional thinking can hijack the logical thinking and we had to think logically. There was no blame, the circumstances were tragic. We have had to ‘pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and start all over again.’.

It felt as if we had landed on number 99 on the snakes and ladders board, with a large snake that went all the way down to number two. The only option was to throw the dice again.

We stayed with our moving plans and arrived in our rental home just before Easter.

If one feels discombobulated when out of routine, then the timing of Easter and not knowing if it’s Friday, Monday or Saturday made matters more confusing.

Living in the moment was all we could do, as we unpacked boxes and made a new home in strange surroundings.

We imagined that we were on a self-catering holiday, where the facilities can be a little quirky, although being surrounded by our own belongings has been a help.

The priority was to have somewhere comfortable to cook, eat, sleep and rest. One room upstairs and one room downstairs remained a dumping area for boxes and I gave myself a four week time limit to empty them. This has been achieved, but we’re careful opening the garage door. The decluttering continues.

And of course, as someone with Pollyanna syndrome, it could all be so much worse.

Rita Leaman is a writer and speaker on emotional health. As Alison R Russell, she published Are you Chasing Rainbows? As Rita Leaman she published a compilation of The Press York columns 2014 -19 in ‘Wise Words’. Website: chasingrainbows.org.uk