One morning this week I went in the sea.

It wasn’t planned, I just woke up earlier than I needed to, with various sources of stress on my mind. The sun was shining, it was a warm (ish!) morning, and on a whim I decided this was it. Off I went down to the beach.

I felt my nerve slipping away a little on the journey down – I hadn’t been in yet this year, it was a bit of a mad last-minute idea, I was on my own, and wouldn’t it be colder early in the morning? But when I got to the beach I steeled myself, I’d done the hardest bit and got myself out of bed and down to the sea already, I couldn’t give up at that point.

So I went in. And it was freezing. Punch-the-breath-out-of-you ice cold. ‘Why on earth am I doing this?’ I thought as I struggled to wade further out, eventually just plunging into the water to get it over with. But as I had known, as everyone who ever ventures into our icy waters knows, that age-old wisdom is true: It’s lovely once you’re in.

I splashed around, gasping for breath, laughing in spite of myself as the salt stung my eyes and the weak morning sun shone down. I could see early morning dog walkers waving at me, and I grinned at them, not quite able to master the coordination needed to wave back.

Getting out was absolutely the worst bit, as it always is. But fighting underneath my towel to get myself dressed again on a breezy beach in the early morning, I realised I had made the best possible decision in going for a spontaneous swim. Sometimes even in times of stress - however big or small - there are little pockets of joy out there for the taking, and a mad morning whim can make you feel on top of the world.