Growing old has many advantages and by keeping positive and pushing the reverse out of the mind, one should have a strategy for the period when retirement looms in front of you. After the adjustment of going from a daily routine to wondering what to do with oneself in the morning, there is a need to organise and to be occupied.
The other change which is probably more dramatic is the slow advance of tiredness as the years edge past, and the realisation that it is more difficult to perform simple tasks. Before continuing, I do respect some people who are very ill and have the need for constant assistance.
Let me explain, I am pre-NHS … in fact I was thirteen when it came into being in nineteen forty-eight. To call a doctor before then, the cost was, on average, similar to a week’s wage, and time in hospital was out of the question. I am not feeling sorry for that part of my life – in fact in some ways the opposite.
Why? Because one developed a strong immune system. I can remember lying on a bed in poor spirits suffering from a severe dose of chicken pox, with my chest smothered in the itchy mounds and my grandmother saying there was nothing they could do, and I would get over it. And I did.
It was the same with cuts and scratches, no need for medical attention, and in due course we were cured by self-belief and maybe the only effect would be a scar.
Yes, I am a strong believer in self-healing as the human body is a wonderful machine and capable of looking after itself. That is what it does, maybe with just a little help from ourselves and the medical profession.
Here in Spain, about five years ago, the ‘Hondon Writers Circle’ was formed, and one of the earlier members was Sarah Dawkins, a Holistic Health Coach, who at that time had started with a vision of a book about healing. I guess she was looking for encouragement to fulfil her dream, which is what writers’ circles are about. I am not saying we had anything to do with the contents of the finished article, because we didn’t.
Sarah Dawkins is a registered nurse, with many other qualifications to her name – her dream came true, when after years of research and hard work, she published the finished article ‘Heal Yourself’ available through Amazon, in June this year, which within a few days went to the top of Amazon’s list and is now published in three languages with more to follow.
Sarah’s book is about what the title says, she had researched and found people who had cured themselves from serious illness, describing how they achieved it. It is well written and examines seventy-five case histories.
In my view Health and Safety rulings, egged on by the pharmaceutical companies, have a lot to do with the queues at A&E, in that over the years they have been putting fear into people’s minds, that the body needs additional support for the simplest little scratch to be better.
The constant display on television of various detergents, which are really a variation of bleach and other cleaning products, to make the home perfectly clean are, in my opinion, over the top, so the first little germ that creeps in – illness, because the body’s immune function does not recognise it as it has not been taught to.
If that is being too simple, let us look at it another way.
Butter, a natural product, was used in most households for many years, certainly before margarine came into being, which I am told is one ingredient short of plastic. And yet, by clever PR, butter was rubbished and the other product sales took off. Incidentally we did not believe the hype and continued with the natural yellow spread and had no side effects.
Of course, as we are all different, perhaps butter is bad for some people. But what about salt and sugar? We all need these in our diet, but we are warned they are bad for humans – but is it possible they are bad because we are told they are and consequently the body rejects them. Quite frankly I could not have my chips without a liberal dosing of salt and three spoonfuls of un-granulated sugar in my tea. Oh, and by the way I am in my late eighties, have a clear head and write a column every week.
Why stop at what I believe is the fiasco over butter. Humans have been eating meat since time began, and now we have groups suggesting it is bad for you. Putting that aside, there are billions of sheep in the world, and they graze very happily in the fields and meadows.
Ah! But we are all being persuaded to forgo meat and eat plants – now I do not think for a moment that we will be able to eat as much as the woollen things do, and therefore the fields will be overgrown with grass growing out of control, especially so when beef is not being served at the dinner table.
However, as these animals breed differently than we do, they will still have to be slaughtered to keep the numbers down, otherwise we will have masses of cows, sheep, goats and other animals pouring out of crowded fields, clogging up the highways and byways, and as I understand cattle are responsible for a great deal of carbon in the air which would make the proposed climate changes a nonsense.
As always pressure groups and others looking to change the World should be very careful with what they wish for – the outcome could very well be something they had not considered. Take care
Facebook.com/percy chattey ‘Percy’s Ramblings’ are available in book form from Amazon.
