For various reasons I've been feeling a bit like this lately, and perverse at it seems, the easier it makes it for me to opt out of other stuff. 

Today my phone rang while I was at Ikea. I was somewhere between the SANDIG and the RATIONELL VARIERA (that's bucket and spade and draw thingy of some description, for those of you who aren't yet fluent in Swedish)

I don't usually answer the calls of numbers I don't know, (opting out anyone?) but this was the first time Mr Small had been big enough to go to Smaland, a veritable paradise for children and I thought it might be them calling me to say he'd had a meltdown or worse, an accident.

Much better, it was the lady setting up the beginners running group I'm starting tomorrow.

She had tragic news.

It wasn't going to start now till next week.

I was T.H.R.I.L.L.E.D.

Another week of sleeping in, and er, opting out sounded spectacularly appealing.

Then I realised she was still talking. And before I knew what had happened the arrangement had been made for her to come to my house 2 mornings this week to train me herself. Apart from being above and beyond the call of her duty, it also left me with absolutely no wiggle room to get out of it.

I weakly protested that she really mustn't, but she clearly had the measure of my lazy ways, and there was no negotiating.

"It will give me a chance to see where you are in terms of your fitness!" she said brightly.

"I'm nowhere!" I replied cleverly.

"Well that's a great place to get started then" was the firm reply.

And that was a great moment. Being co-opted is awesome isn't it? Because while being left out or behind sucks, when you ARE included feels ten times as good as a result.

Sometimes things don't work out the way I plan. Like this time.

And I have a suspicion it's going to be a gazillion times better.

FTR the photo above is NOT ME. Yet ;)

Have you been given no chance to opt out lately?