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Mary Portas, the queen of shops, rates her new year so far, and Geoffrey Boycott talks cricket and the wonders of Ben Stokes's record-breaking 258 runs in South Africa.

The Queen of Shops, Mary Portas rates her new year so far and shares her hopes for 2016. Geoffrey Boycott talks cracking cricket and the wonders of Ben Stokes' record breaking 258 runs in South Africa.
We hear about the man who took his decorations down on Christmas day and Sara educates the nation about a strange birthday ritual from her childhood. Dr Jim Harris provides today's Pause For Thought, talking about fear on the first day back to work.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Mon 4 Jan 2016 06:30
麻豆约拍 Radio 2

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    • If I Can Dream.
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Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

Art Historian, Dr Jim Harris

Like many of us, I鈥檓 back to work today, the first Monday of the new year.聽 As soon as I leave here, I鈥檒l be on the bus to Oxford with a long to-do-list: lessons to prepare, courses to plan, colleagues and students to see, admin to keep up with, research to start, writing to finish.

Even thinking about that list makes my mouth dry and my scalp prickle because, as 2016 starts, I鈥檓 afraid. 聽I鈥檓 afraid of failing, of not being good enough, of what people might think, of being found out.聽 It鈥檚 all a bit tragic, really.聽 It鈥檚 the Big Fear.聽

But I don鈥檛 reckon I鈥檓 that unusual: lots of us are afraid. And The Fear makes it much, much harder to get things done. Sometimes The Fear leaves me in danger of doing nothing at all.

So it was an instructive pleasure to spend yesterday morning trying (and failing) to write this while listening to English cricketers Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow eviscerate the South African attack in Cape Town.聽It was sublime, a moment to text my Dad and my brother and sister to make sure they were listening too.

But although it was brutal, perhaps the most amazing thing about Ben Stokes鈥� innings was not the power and technical audacity of his hitting, or his astonishing scoring rate, but the utter fearlessness of the whole thing. He wasn鈥檛 chasing statistics or a target, just the next ball. He鈥檇 deal with that. 聽No worries about the one after, just confidence in the moment. No fear.

Now, God knows about the fear. 鈥楧o not be afraid鈥� is one of the commonest phrases in the Bible.聽 But God doesn鈥檛 tell us not to be afraid because he thinks fear is silly.聽 He tells us not to be afraid because he knows we鈥檙e gifted to deal with whatever he sends us to do. And he wants us to trust those gifts and get on with it.聽

Ben Stokes didn鈥檛 go out to bat with a long to-do-list for his innings. 聽He just worked through 198 individual lists instead. 聽One for every ball he faced.

So that鈥檚 what I鈥檒l do.聽 Not worry about the 198th thing, but trust that I鈥檓 equipped for the next.聽 And then do it.聽 Because there鈥檚 nothing to be afraid of there.聽 Off to the bus, then.

Broadcast

  • Mon 4 Jan 2016 06:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 2

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

500 Words

麻豆约拍 Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.