Positive Health Online

Those who find this article relevant might be subject to the hopelessness and resignations of old age, likened to the aging wrinkled apple.  Many, aware that they cannot put the clock back and that the pleasures of life seem to belong to the younger generations, do not see any point in life other than seeing family, if they have any, and waiting for what is the inevitable.  This is painfully obvious in many, but not all, care homes.  For those who don’t relate to others easily, this can be a painful and lonely time. 

A relevant comedy-drama film, Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War[1] starring Pauline Collins and John Alderton is a great source of encouragement, inspiring more realistic endeavours like trips to farmers markets and more input into the running of care homes lacking in residents’ participation.  In real life, the Daily Mirror printed a story about 94-year-old Frances Gilkes who had a life-long dream of flying a plane.[2]  She asked for a lesson on a Wishing Tree at her care home.  She got her wish and revelled in the joy of achievement. The Wishing Tree is an initiative run by the care home where Francis lives.

The separation of the extended family over the past few generations has led to feelings of isolation when active engagement in work and physical activities are not an option.  Loss of interest in self can occur when it seems that no one else cares.  In addition to the distance between family members, communities in general have lost the closeness that was so evident, especially in the poorer areas of cities even during up to the 1950s.  The fact that there was as much bickering as caring did not diminish the community spirit.  Older people were geographically closer to younger generations and were included in the extended family.  The bulldozing of old residential areas into high-rise dwellings is one reason communities were broken up.  Family members separating geographically is another.

Cultural mixing of nations owing to immigration has evidenced a different mentality divide.  Many immigrants have segregated rather than integrated, for understandable reasons in some instances, and expanded their culture into whole cities and towns. 

1960s saw a turn in the social tide that few could imagine.  The younger generation no longer know much about the history of their heritage (whether or not the history is accurate) owing to huge negative changes in educational policy and break-down of the extended close family ties.  They have little regard for the family values of their past.  A major change which is so evident in television soaps is open disrespect for authority, parents and the elderly and a complete lax of morals and manners.  Also consistent portrayal of junk and fast-food meals, sweets and sugary snacks, all associated with nutritional deficiencies and behavioural problems, is presented as normal.  Nutritional deficiencies affect neurotransmitter balance in the brain.  This can lead to learning and behavioural dysfunction.  Socially accepted degradation of standards does not equate to normal: it only means that it is common.

Worship of the ‘naked as possible’ female form, with all its artificially altered bits and pieces (which takes a lot of money), is flaunted in the media with an unspoken derogatory smear on all those ‘normal females’ who don’t make the grade.  This is catastrophic for female self-esteem and adds to the diminution of anyone past the ‘young fresh apple look’. 

Government policy is geared towards rewarding the puppets, selected by the powers that be, which do the bidding of those higher up.  Benefits for the people are only in the lying promises of each when it is time to choose which puppets will sit in ‘high seats’.[3]  The main political parties are two heads of the same snake or the same bird with different coloured wings but produces the same waste!  History logs the merry-go-round of hopes for betterment, dashed by a manipulated crash, so we all start yet again.  Familiar?

Responsibility for the current status quo belongs to them and to most people who have done nothing to change the course of society from the ground up, but apathetically settled for scraps and impotent complaints about what the Government are going to do about the woes of life in such a struggle-based deteriorating existence. 

So, what about the woes of old age, likened to an ageing wrinkled apple?  Could there be hidden treasures in those supposedly past their ‘sell-by date’?  A resounding yes!  Resignation and hopelessness are thieves stopping you from seeing treasures within. 

Society’s youth is in a mess because these hidden treasures have not been shared with them.  Mostly they have shunned the opportunities to be blessed by those who have gathered a lifetime of experience and seen social decline before their eyes from childhood to old age.  Inside of those wrinkled apples is a bank of knowledge and wisdom, rarely sought after, and a hidden ‘golden apple’ of more value than any physical one in its prime.  That inner ‘golden apple’ is not subject to the decay of our temporary, fleeting fleshly form. 

There is a wealth of exciting passions, interests and projects within each individual, yet to be recognized, covered with dark and dusty cobwebs,  These cobwebs are not only the evidence of attitudinal decay, but accumulated nutritional deficiencies which have lowered immune function, the vitality of life and capacity for physical activity.  Untapped gifts in areas not ventured into during the mundane struggles of daily life are to be found in abundance by those with a freed imagination and encouragement.  Examples are to be found in hitherto untapped abilities to paint, sew, write, dance, sing, get involved in business, take courses on various interests.  Of course, for some people, certain activities and courses will have to be brought into care homes, for example, where outward assisted travel is not relevant.  All of these avenues and more could be opened up to those willing to start the ball rolling within. Toxicity, complex and inevitable in time we live, is also a hindrance.  All of these are largely correctable with the right tools, patience, support and caring mentors. 

The first step, however, is the want to care for self.  This starts with a decision to do so, to become involved in life and not have a ‘dead’ mentality.  Communication and the willingness to connect with others is the fruit of such a decision.

Most of us, at some point in life, realize that we have an inherent void which needs something bigger than ourselves to fill.  When entertainment, work, busy family life, hobbies, addictions, religions, relationships, satisfying the five senses by any number of other distractions are exhausted, we reluctantly acknowledge an emptiness inside that we have been unable to fill with outside sources. This can lead to the ‘despair of aloneness’ and depression, which is but a symptomatic alarm call.  Depression has a message. 

What makes a corpse different from a living person?  The one has lost something it had before which gave life: the spirit.  The other still has that spirit of life, or the life source.  Spirit is the invisible force that animates inert matter and creates movement and other signs of life.  Men and women are an integrated whole of spirit, soul (or mind, will, intellect, emotions) and body. 

• Spirit can be likened to electricity and wind.  They can’t be seen but the effects of them can. The fact that they can’t be seen is not a good reason to deny their existence.  The effects of the spirit are demonstrated in the mind and physical body.  The spiritual, or energy body, has lines of communication called meridians.  These are similar to physical lines of communication called nerves but meridians, like electricity and wind, are not visible, only the effects of them are.  Just like nerves have junctions from one nerve to another, and lymph vessels have nodes along them, meridians have points along them where energy information can be accessed.  These points are called acupuncture or acupressure points   Energy medicines, like vibrational, cymatics (sound therapy) and homeopathics work along the meridian energy line system.  The energy field surrounding the physical body is called the aura and this is the invisible personal space which makes us uncomfortable if it is intruded without invitation.  This energy also picks up unspoken hostility from, and rejection of someone without any logical reason.  Body language and gut feelings display this energetic language.
• Soul or mind, which works intimately with the brain (part of the body), can be likened to a circuit board where the wiring determines the route taken by the electricity or energy source. This mind/brain circuit board is introduced to a default operating program from conception through early childhood.[4]
• Body can be likened to a light bulb or end product (physical body) which manifests the electricity the way the circuit board has determined.

Another way of looking at it is the power source that energizes a computer (electricity) a program (circuit board) which determines what is manifest on the monitor (light bulb/body). 

The above being so, if there is a problem with the end product, covering up that problem is not going to sort it out, for example, covering a dashboard warning light to avoid seeing it or suppressing a rash or depression with drugs to cover up the problem.  Something at a deeper level resulted in the rash, depression and warning light.

One’s energy source, or spirit, is the essence of self and when there is harmony of spirit, this is living from inside oneself or owning oneself.  The outcome of this is peace and positive emotions like love, joy, gratitude, patience, self-control etc.  This is the ‘involvement mind-set’ where the trials and problems of life’s journey are turned into opportunities, solutions and character building-blocks.  Caring first for self, means that you then have the wherewithal to care for others  Loving self is a necessity to being able to love others.[5]  A spirit in distress will send out signals such as anger, resentment, hatred, bitterness, fear, hopelessness, apathy, depression, mental numbness, etc.  This is the ‘black hole mind-set’ where there seems to be no way out and offers of help seem of no use.

We have become who we are by default.  From conception to about 7 years old, the mind simply accumulates knowledge and concepts from parent, carers, peers, experiences and environment.  This is likened to the wiring of the circuit board or computer program.  This is the start we all have, some horrific, some unremarkable and some happy.  We are one-off individuals; comparing our starts in life is less than useless.  Our mission in life is to either change, or confirm our own default wiring or computer program to conform to what we choose to become.  This is owning oneself.  Changing ones default ‘circuit board wiring’ changes and increases neuronal connection networks in the brain facilitating reorganization and growth.  This is termed neuroplasticity.  This enlarges parameters affecting thoughts, beliefs, emotions and physical changes. 

Our bodies are the vehicles we have for the journey of life.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator, who most people call God, and born through our parents.  Ancient Israel’s King David states, “I give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Your works, and my being knows it well.”[6]  God said to Jeremiah the prophet,  "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”[7]  Of course, man can interfere with original formation and growth templates such as in the case of the drug Thalidomide given for morning sickness in the 1960s resulting in growth deformities, and abortions destroy growth and formation altogether.  Bodies have input from both spirit and mind.  Caring for self involves all three. 

Food, or nutrition, is the ultimate input for health, physical food, mental food and spiritual food.  We can nourish ourselves or degrade ourselves on all three levels.  We ‘become what we eat’ or consume spiritually, mentally and physically.  Owning self and making active choices in all three areas of nourishment is the essence of self-care, growth and maturity.  The knowledge of how to choose is mostly lost to us in this society so the joy of finding out what is beneficial on all three levels is challenging and rewarding.  Age, physical condition and circumstances are no barrier to starting this epic life journey. 

References

1. Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War is based on a 1993 novel by Dr Vernon Coleman.
2. Daily Mirror 15^th December 2022
3. Tom Schauf, Top Secret Banker’s Manual, Printed by Amazon, ISBN 9 798833 917671, page 51 is particularly interesting, “What Bankers Fear”. Although this book has an American bias, it is exactly the same in the UK and other countries. 
4. Bruce Lipton PhD, The Biology of Belief: Hay House UK, 2015, ISBN-10 : 1781805474.
5. Matt 22:37-40. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
6. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
7. Psalm 139:14
8. Jeremiah 1:5