Health scare and self care

Hello and Happy New Year all!

I hope you got to spend a great end of the year with your family and friends. Last december was busy to say the least with my side hustle and work. I did manage to spend some quality time with family and friends. However, the end of 2021, and beginning of 2022 was plagued with health scare. First off, a close family member had covid. It was the first time someone in my close circle had the disease. So far, only colleagues and friends I barly see had told me they had the disease. We had to cancel our family diner plans on christmas and isolated for a bit. Thankfully none of us were infected. And after a week, the family member was feeling better. 

Then beginning of January, my own father was not feeling well. We had to take him to the hospital and after several medical testings, it turns out he had anemia. We were all grateful that it was nothing worse. But the entire ordeal got me thinking. I must take care of myself better. 

Scarf - gift

Dress - Mayelle Boutik

Shoes - Gift

African printed Fan - old

Head jewel - I am

Necklace - Tilene market

I am so busy with life, trying to make a living, trying to grow my business, taking care of family, trying to socialize and create memory, I leave little time to health and self care. My idea of self care is to lie in a bed and watch Netflix all day. It is wonderful and all because in today's world rest is overrated. Actually, I think the pandemic was a reminder to slow things down a bit. I remember that at the beginning of it, when we were all confined to our houses, we had a slow life. Yet two years later, we are back to grinding even harder.

But back to me. I do not take care of my health. I do not work out. I do not eat properly. At my age, I am overweight. I have high blood pressure which is under control. Do not ask me about my cholesterol level, but I am sure it is high. I do not have diabetes, thankfully, but it runs in my family. I have allergies that prevent me from breathing properly. To top it all, I can barely read small letters without glasses lately. Recently I have noticed some knee pain when I pray. These are all signs of aging, but they can be reverse if I take care of myself better. 

Taking care of oneself is not only about dieting and exercising though. One needs to do frequent check ups to make sure there is nothing wrong. When I lived abroad, I did yearly check up because they were provided by my ex husband's company. And back home, I was lucky enough to have my company scheduled annual health check up. Therefore I would be up to date with some aspects of my health. However, those check ups did not include dental, and gynecology. Those I had to do on my own. Yet dentists and gynecologists are the doctors I hate the most because they are invasive. They poke and prode in parts that are sensitive. Last time I went to the dentist (2 years ago, I am ashamed to admit), he removed one of my tooth with such violence, it took two days for my mouth to fully recover. And I had never had great experiences with gynecologists. I do not even want to recall them here. Let us just say they were traumatic. However, avoiding the doc for years had some downfall. Some things may be happening that you are not aware of until it is too late. And with my age, it is important that I check myself regularly to avoid that.

 In my country, people also have bad relations with doctors and hospitals. Not only hospitals (even public) are expensive, but the way people are treated there is disgusting. There is no customer care, or pure care. Some doctors and nurses are some of the worst people you can find, barely empath or nice. Sometimes you wonder why they chose this field if it is to be so bitter and mean. For those reasons, people do not even do check ups, and once they end up in the hospital, best believe that it is when it is already too late. It is not even because they lack education. My own mother who is an educated woman, would rather drink her lemon ginger natural herbs cocktails when she thinks she has the flu rather than go to the doctor. Myself, I check google for my sympotoms and self medicate. 

I have decided that this year I will take better care of my self. I shall proceed to resolve all of my issues. It is good to be booked and busy, but the pursuit of money will not go anywhere If I am not healthy. This is not even a new year's resolution, but a lifetime resolution. I need to push myself to be and feel better. And this apply not only to physical health, but to mental health as well. I think I have postponed it enough, but it is about time I find that therapist. 

I encourage all of you to take care of yourself more. If one thing this pandemic has taught us is that the less healthy are more at risk. And it goes with any other disease on this earth. So do that check up, go on a diet, work out, see a therapist, take vitamins, rest, go see the doctors. Self care should not just be spa or mani-pedi days, hot baths and beach walks. It should also be about our own bodies. Besides as they say in my country, " Prevention is better than cure"