Having started this shiny new year – and decade (!) – with posts designed to get you thinking, we thought we’d take it easy this week. So, we’re going to keep it simple, short and sweet. Hurrah! 

 

So, what are we going to talk about?  

 

Well, it’s something that we adults – and, sadly, too many children – spend far too little time doing. That’s if we do it at all. Playing. 

 

And, we’re not talking about all those games on your favourite electronic gizmo. Or, even, the more old fashioned board games or card games. Let alone anything more physical or “organised” in some other way. 

There are some clichés which have stood the test of time and bear repeating. So, that’s exactly what we’re going to do this today. That life is all about choices. 

 

Some are made consciously, others unconsciously or by default. However, regardless of the method used and whatever was done – or not done (!) – there are ALWAYS consequences. Sorry, but it’s true! Welcome and less so. Large or small. Immediate or seeds sown far into the future. 

 

Despite this, it seems that many people find it difficult to link the choices they made at some time in the past, with whatever they’re now experiencing in their lives. In other words, the cause and effect. 

 

Not surprisingly, this can lead to a feeling of powerlessness. That things are happening to them. Or, worse, that life – for some reason – is out to get them. “Why does this always happen to me?” A downward spiral quickly develops. 

 

Why is this? Well, there are a variety of reasons. 

There are some topics that come up again and again with clients. And, what always strikes us, is just how creative they can be when trying to justify a less than positive choice they’ve been making. Both to themselves and to us (!). 

 

Sometimes it’s down to a simple lack of thought.  

 

More often there’s a rather blind eye being turned in that particular direction… 

 

Top of the list must come diet. And, as we learnt many years ago, we never ask a client whether their diet is healthy. To date, no one has ever answered this question by saying that, perhaps, it might not be. However, a quick follow up question or two has provided a somewhat different – and often very imaginative (!) – answer… 

 

And, regardless of what the advertising may say, baked beans don’t count as fresh fruit and vegetables. Nor is the salad in an all too popular takeaway beef burger one of your five a day. Top marks for creativity, zero points for nutritional value! 

 

So, what are we going to focus on today? 

There are some traditions which never seem to change, with the making – and breaking (!) – of New Year’s Resolutions being a seasonal example of this. It’s a topic we cover every January, albeit from various different angles, and, if you want a quick reminder, here they are: 

 

For the madness behind New Year’s Resolutions and why they simply don’t work, click here. 

 

A suggestion to ditch your New Year’s Resolutions and do something more powerful instead, click here. 

 

An easier way to make – and achieve – your New Year’s Resolutions, click here. 

 

A suggestion for an easier way to start the New Year, click here. 

 

And, finally, Inspiration versus perspiration, click here. 

 

So, we thought it was about time for a different start to this bright new shiny year and decade (!). It’s a simple question that’s designed to get you thinking and, fingers crossed, will also give you a different perspective on life. 

However, you spend the last few days of the year – and the decade (!) – we wish you a very happy and healthy festive period. 

 

And, before we close for this year, here’s a lovely little poem by Pankaj K Negi we came across recently which perfectly sums up this time of year: 

Mention Adrenal Fatigue to a conventional practitioner and you’ll probably receive a very short answer. That it’s complete rubbish. A myth. How the – often vague – set of symptoms being experienced are probably all in your mind. Oh and there isn’t a specific blood test to diagnose it. Sadly, this isn’t a joke but something we hear all too often from Clients. 

 

At best, another label may be put on the symptoms. Depression. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Glandular Fever (which, ironically, may not show up on a blood test depending on the virus concerned). However, as this means that a deeper underlying cause isn’t identified, any improvement tends to be short term at the best. 

 

Why is this? 

We’ve all been in situations where – for whatever reason – we haven’t been able to admit that we haven’t a clue about whatever it is. We just don’t know. 

 

And it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s something big or small, of great importance or of little consequence. We simply don’t like admitting that we don’t know. 

 

We’d also be willing to bet that, as you’re reading this, the Little Monster in your head has quite a lot to say about this simple statement. How it definitely applies to everyone else but not you (!). How you’ve never done such a thing. As if. And the like… 

Like many other things in life, good sleep is something we take for granted until we find ourselves clock watching in the small hours. If we’re fortunate, it’s only an occasional occurrence. Just one of those things. 

 

However, for a significant number of people it’s become a much more regular event, particularly after the biannual clock changes. And, for some reason, the recent “fall back” to winter seems to have taken people much longer to adjust to than normal. 

 

We all instinctively know that regular – and good quality – sleep is important for many reasons. It makes all the difference between a good day and one that seems to last for ever, which we have to drag ourselves through. However, it goes much deeper than that, with poor sleep playing a part in many other health problems. 

And, if your halo is shining and think this doesn’t apply to you, think again! 

 

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all carry around a little – or a lot (!) – unfinished business with us. Big or small. Far in the past or much more recent. Something we try to turn a blind eye to – or perhaps not... 

 

Unfinished business is like a heavy bag we’re lugging around with us all the time. Draining our energy and getting in the way. Distracting us from the here and now. 

 

And it’s not just our precious time and energy that we’ve wasted by starting something we’ve never quite finished. Often, leaving something open – in limbo – is much more draining than doing something about it. As well as the effects its ripples have over our life as a whole. And we’ve all found out about that at some time or other (!). 

With the recent recall of one of the most popular Heartburn medications, Zantac – Ranitidine – made by GlaxoSmithKline as a “precautionary measure”, this week we’re going to take a look at Heartburn. What it is, the most common triggers, one often overlooked – and counter intuitive – underlying cause and things you can do at home to help yourself.