It’s amazing how often one blog post gives us inspiration for the next and this week’s is a very good example of this in action.  

 

Last week we talked about jetlag – you can find it here if you missed it – and it reminded us of those words of wisdom included in every pre flight safety briefing, that’s providing you were listening... 

 

“In the event of an emergency put your oxygen mask on FIRST, THEN help others.” 

With the Summer holiday season already underway, this week we’re going to focus on something that can really take the shine off your first few precious days away. And we’re not talking about the mayhem before you leave home, the joys of the airport or lottery of who you’re going to be lucky enough to sit next to on the plane (!). If you’ve ever travelled long haul, you’ll know all about it. Jet lag. 

 

Jet lag – Flight Fatigue or Desynchronosis, if you’d like to get technical – occurs when we travel across different time zones. It means our internal body clock becomes out of synch with local clock time. 

It always makes us smile – in a slightly rueful way, we would hasten to add (!) – when we listen to people talking about themselves. Their achievements, skills and abilities. 

 

For some reason – and perhaps it’s part of the natural English reserve / mindset – many people just aren’t comfortable blowing their own trumpets. Well, if we’re going to be completely honest, most of us aren’t comfortable doing this. 

 

And, yes, of course there are always going to be exceptions to this rule – and there’s lots we could say about this (!) – but we’ll leave that for another day... 

With the temperatures having rocketed up in the last few days, we’ve had the usual spate of calls from Clients suffering from Leg cramps. While they’re usually associated with the summer months, they can occur at any time of year and for several different reasons. 

 

However, the good news is that they’re easy to deal with. Even better they’re simple to prevent, with no prizes for guessing the number one cause. And, if you need a clue, it’s one of our pet subjects (!). More about this later. 

Whether it be food, communications, getting from A to B or health improvements; the expectation is the same. We want a quick fix NOW!!! Just look at the adverts online, in the newspapers or on the television and you’ll find this is the box they’re all trying to tick. 

 

However, if you take a step back from all of this for a moment, does quick really mean a fix? 

We often talk about the joys of serendipity and how life has a way of – almost (!) – magically falling into place IF we allow it to. Letting it unfold in its own way AND at its own pace.  

 

Often this happens in ways we never could have anticipated or takes us off in a completely new direction that turns out to be exactly what we wanted. 

It’s one of life’s mysteries that, for some inexplicable reason, the simple things seem to give us the most pleasure. Often much more than their long awaited – and more expensive (!) – counterparts. 

 

Anyone who’s watched a small child unwrapping their Christmas or Birthday presents, has encountered this first hand. With the box – or wrapping paper (!) – holding their attention for much longer than the contents. Is so much more interesting and attractive. Gives greater pleasure and is played with for a much longer period of time. The contents quickly forgotten and pushed to one side… 

 

Why is it that simple pleasures seem to be so much better? 

Having read the title of this post – and looked at the picture – you’re probably expecting a police related theme to this week’s story. And, in one sense you’d be right, although we have to admit that the link is slightly tenuous. 

 

So, what are we going to be talking about this week? 

 

Feet. 

 

Not a very exciting topic you may think but, bear with us, it’s a problem we’re seeing increasingly regularly with Clients. And one that can be easily prevented in the first place. 

Listening to clients – as well as those we encounter in our day to day lives – it’s all too easy to fall into the “doom, gloom and despondency” trap. That the world is hard, negative and uncaring. Life is a constant struggle and the best we can hope for is to get by. 

 

However, as we’ve said many times before, this isn’t what life is about at all. We live on a planet that’s amazing and beautiful. Life is here for us to enjoy and, dare we say it, be happy (!). 

 

We have so much more to be thankful for than to be unhappy about. The human spirit is truly awe inspiring and indomitable. 

While chicken has traditionally been considered a healthy source of protein, eggs have received a much less favourable press in recent years. This is largely due to a simple misconception which we regularly hear from Clients. That eggs are high in Cholesterol and saturated fats, so promoting Heart Disease. If not avoided, they should only be eaten occasionally. 

 

Not surprisingly, this has led to a variety of different advice about limiting their consumption. These range from avoiding eggs altogether or, at the very most, eating no more than three eggs a week. And then there’s the advice to only eat eggs whites, although nothing is said about what to do with the yolks (!). As an aside, while doing a little research for this post, we were intrigued to come across the recommendation to only consume a quarter of an egg a week. Exactly how this would work in practice, we have no idea…