A little of what you fancy – personal enjoyment

I am back to discussing health, mine and that of others too. I have found that many of us are really quite good at knowing what is wrong, or right with our bodies and much of the time we can look after our health. However, there are times when we need that extra support, when we look to the medical profession for that help. Unfortunately, I have found that there are norms, and if you do not fit neatly within those norms then it becomes increasingly difficult to find the support that you need.

I recently met a retired nurse who said that until she was 60, she could eat anything. There is now a long list of the foods that she cannot eat. This has not been diagnosed by any medic. She simply became really ill, at times unable to get out of bed, she then worked her way through elimination diets until she knew what it was that her body can and cannot tolerate.

I know several women who have been through the IVF process unsuccessfully to later get pregnant naturally or whilst using non-medical interventions, such as hypnosis and yoga. Strangely, and joyfully, they have then often gone on to have further children successfully with no further interventions. In these instances it was something that the medics did not think was possible.

It seems to me that there are many things about the ways in which our bodies operate that are not necessarily straightforward. Something may work in 90% of cases but not in the final 10%. I was very shocked during the height of the Covid pandemic to discover that the annual flu vaccine actually only reduces your likelihood of catching flu by 40 – 60%. I had assumed that it would be significantly higher. Whilst in reality we know that no vaccination is 100% effective, in many cases it is considerably lower than we may believe. Likewise other issues may have significantly higher levels that sit outside the norms than we may think.  A journal article published in 2019 estimates that 20% of the population may have some sort of food intolerance, whilst another states that academic literature demonstrates that food intolerances affect up to 40% of the world’s population. At this point those of us who do have issues are beginning to look far less abnormal. If these articles are correct then we can assume that somewhere between 1 in 5, to 1 in 3 of our friends and families will be suffering with some form of food intolerance.

In order to flourish we need to be healthy which sometimes means that we need to work things out for ourselves. This can be a slow and challenging process. We need to find the balance between following what might be considered an extreme approach and following the mainstream when we know that it will not work for us. I adore the smell of fresh bread, particularly in many of the wonderful patisseries that I see around me. However unfortunately a little of what I fancy on this occasion would not do me good and would not lead, even in the short term, to personal enjoyment. Mindfulness can help me to flourish. It may not help me to discover all of my intolerances, it can help with pain management when I make mistakes. It also supports me in knowing what makes me happy and enables me to develop personal happiness. At the moment crochet seems to work really well.

I am on the final sleeve of the cardigan. I want to crack on and get it finished because I already have other projects planned. I am going to finish a knitted project soon. I have been looking again at a video of speed knitting and whilst it won’t immediately be quicker for me in the long term, I think it will be, so I think I need to develop the technique. I have been put off knitting recently because it seems to take so long.

This leaves me to say I hope that you have a great weekend. Until Monday…