Do You Have Any Idea How Precious You Are?

I have been looking back over my posts and I have found only one post that was specifically devoted to the subject of heath:

• We Are The Champions!

After all, I am not a health blogger. But of course I am interested in health and enjoy reading the posts prepared by bloggers who publish helpful and fascinating posts. I have worked in various avenues of the health service – caring for those with terminal illness, dementia, limited mobility and also within pharmacy – for at least ten years, but I do not consider myself any kind of health guru!

However, I have been invited to take part in another “3.2.1 Quote Me!” challenge, by none other that Rory himself, the creator of A Guy Called Bloke and K9 Doodlepip! and this time the theme is GOOD HEALTH!

https://aguycalledbloke.blog/2018/11/11/321-quote-me-good-health/

So, in response to Rory’s invitation, today (and only today) I am going to become a health guru!

Rules: 3.2.1 Quote Me!

Thank the Selector – thank you Rory!

Post 2 quotes for the dedicated Topic of the Day.

Select 3 bloggers to take part in ‘3.2.1 Quote Me!’

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I mentioned in the post I provided a link to above, that there are a host of preventable diseases causing heartbreak to many families. Smoking, abuse of drugs and alcohol – for anyone who respects life – they have to be a no. Yesterday, many millions remembered the loss of life during warfare – apparently around 40,000,000 lost their lives during the first world war.  Yet 6,000,000 lose their lives each year due to smoking – that is an average of one person every six seconds! Hold on let me get a calculator. Quitting this addictive habit may seem like a battle, but it is a war worth winning!

I can’t cope with extremes…you know extreme diets, extreme fitness regimes, extreme make-overs! Some might enjoy all that though…so good for them!

For me, the word I have always preferred when it came to health is BALANCE! The habits we have on a daily basis add up. If you get into the habit of coming home from work and crashing onto the sofa and being glued to it all evening and over-eating all those “wrong foods”… you know what will happen!

There are some sensible things that most of us can do on a daily basis including moderate food portions with lots of fruit and veggies, plenty of water, plenty of sleep and being on the move.

Moving – it’s up to you what you do – you may not be one of those “Insanity” advocates or a marathon runner, but you ought to find some kind of exercise format that you enjoy. There are some days when I don’t feel I can go for a run or a swim and I don’t have time for one of my long walks. So I find something fun to listen to and I have a dance – yup…a dance, shaking and shimmying in my hallway and trying to get my heart pumping and my blood rushing. Try it… whatever you do, make sure you spend time each day moving!

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Realistically…even if you lead a balanced life, you cannot attain perfect health now. Sadly, as imperfect humans we become ill, even those who are conscientious and take good care of their health become ill.

I have had several friends who were healthy fall victim to one of the diseases that plague mankind, despite medical advances:

• Catrina And Catbells
• Lucy… Showed What She Would Do If Only Things Were Different
• I Was In Love With The Milky Bar Kid

Currently, humankind groans under the effect of the diseases that take our loved ones away. From a very young age I wanted answers to why we get sick, grow old and die. My hunger for answers was insatiable! I think I would have gone crazy if I hadn’t found answers!

And that brings me to the next aspect of health I wanted to mention: mental and emotional health.

Different sources I have checked cite different figures, but at least one in four will be affected by some form of mental or emotional illness at some point – and that includes children, and teenagers of course. This is not due to any personal weakness or character flaw. People in all walks of life can be affected.

I know a full-time volunteer who has been helping others out in Africa for twenty years and she was at one stage overwhelmed with the diagnosis of bipolar she received. She bravely talked openly about it around ten years ago at a huge conference I was invited to. It was the first time I had heard someone be so honest about how dark their thoughts could become. She received a standing ovation from the ten thousand or so professionals in attendance. I am grateful to courageous people like her who have been honest and open about their emotional and mental health. I found her afterwards and told her I thought she was remarkable. I am so glad that there has been more focus on this key aspect of health these last few years.

There are people you pass everyday who are carrying painful thoughts around inside – and you just never know how close to breaking point they might be. There are a million reasons to be kind to other people, but for many years I have felt I wanted to be the smile that lightened a weighed down heart. I want to be the “it’s great to see you” or the “thank you for all your hard work” or the “I am so glad to have you as my friend” and help those I cross paths with to keep going. There are some who go to bed wishing that they won’t wake up the next morning.

With all my heart I would love to wipe away the tears, to take away the pain, to ease the burdens many carry.

I think the prolonged stress I suffered due to the situation with my ex-flatmate Jack, was bringing me lower and lower. I did not realize it at the time. Ironically, it was after I was attacked that I became stronger and more resilient emotionally. I found it easier to identify harmful thoughts and push them out. Everyone is different – what is stressful to one person may not be to another. For me it was a form of bullying over a prolonged period that crushed me. The trauma of the attack fortified me to actively find wonderful things about life and creation to dwell on. I had a renewed determination that nobody was going to cloud my sunshine!

I read an article a few years ago that was very helpful to me indeed. It was based on words that will be familiar to many, as they have been around for three thousand years and have been translated into over a thousand languages: “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a crushed spirit saps one’s strength.”

I had been crushed by the relentless taunting and trolling I had endured. It had sapped all my strength emotionally. I needed to heal from that damage. I also remember a great friend of mine shared with me some vivid word pictures that helped me.

One of them was rather graphic. He showed me a note and asked me how much it was worth? I said £20. He crumpled the £20 note. He put it on the floor and stamped on it. He picked it up and asked me “how much is it worth now?” He told me that the way I had been treated does not in any way diminish my value. He asked me how much am I worth? Now when you are feeling low…that is a really hard question to answer without a sullen shrug of your shoulders! He told me that value is generally indicated by the price a person is willing to pay for something.

My friend shared with me the delightful story of Johnny Lingo and Sarita, his eight cow wife – I am sure some of you will know it. He asked me how much would my loved ones pay for me! One cow? two cows? eight cows? twenty cows? The price that my family and friends would pay for me is far more than I might estimate my own worth. What about someone who considered me, in my imperfect state, so precious they would give something of immense value, the most precious gift in their possession, in exchange for me?

As for my physical health…well I am in fairly good health. Currently, my major concern health-wise is this silly brain of mine. I have read several times that astronomers and scientists say that the most spectacular thing in the entire universe is the human brain. However, almost three and a half years ago, a stranger inflicted injuries on me that have caused my brain to play up at times. The main concern is the communication blips it has at times, especially with my heart. My brain likes to give my family regular frights by causing me to be rushed into an accident and emergency unit. But I am determined to make the most of every precious day of life and have a very joyful heart. Nobody is going to cloud my sunshine!

There are so many reasons for me to have joy, so many reasons to be assured I am loved, so many reasons for me to have hope that, if I want to wipe away tears, remove pain and take away the burdens of disease and death, someone with power and love vastly superior will have exactly that desire and will do so.

Good health is something that I hope for every human – I long for the day when we all know daily happiness and healthfulness and can honestly say from the bottom of our hearts: “You know what – I feel great!”

Here is to the day when the question “How are you?” will be completely redundant… because everybody will be in perfect health!

In the meantime…promise me dear reader, that you will take good care of yourself! For you are very very precious!

Now my nominees for the “3.2.1 Quote Me!” challenge on the theme of GOOD HEALTH are three bloggers who are much more qualified than I am to talk about this subject:

 BeckiesMentalMess.wordpress.com – Beckie’s Mental Mess

 Sadje – Keep it alive

 drtanya@saltedcaramel – Salted Caramel