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Here We Go Again

Just a little background to start this off. I began writing this blog in 2019, before C19 was determined to be a pandemic. My site was published and I was on a writing roll. When Covid hit and changed our world, probably forever, I went into a tailspin along with the rest of the world; I quit writing. I could no longer be sure I knew what a Healthy Path looked like.

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Life gets in the way...

Besides covid, my bumps in the road was actually a very positive experience, seriously adding to my knowledge base, regarding something that might not seem like a “walking a healthy path” subject. Back in February of 2019, I was asked by a friend of a friend to help him launch his new business. As I understood it at the time, he needed my help to market his products; as it turned out though we ended up working together to start building the business from scratch. Lee’s invention, the EZ-Power To Go solar generator, was ready to put into production and sell. He didn’t have a web page, good marketing materials or any kind of plan for marketing his amazing products. So, off we went and my blog writing slowed way down.

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Retirement can be difficult...

Well you say, how is she going to tie her last 3 years to “walking a healthy path?” To do that, I have to go back to May of 2017 when I retired and began the next chapter in my life. Now, I’m hoping my audience isn’t just folks who are retired; I hope younger people will read this blog to get ideas about every aspect of living healthy. Retirement for an active, vibrant person is, believe it or not, a challenge and sometimes downright depressing, until he or she finds a new purpose.

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Finding purpose...

To that end, after several unproductive months, I decided I must be productive to be happy, and I didn’t want to go back to work for someone else. Having always been interested in marketing, I decided to learn the latest and greatest, digital online marketing using Google and Facebook. This has been quite the learning curve but getting involved with the launch of Leisure Solar LTD has allowed me to put what I had been learning to practical use, hands on learning is always the be. What’s the connection?                   

In case you still haven’t figured out the connection between my finding my purpose and Walking a Healthy Path, I’ll try to explain it better.

One thing I’ve known for a long time, and actually recommended to friends and acquaintances who are feeling rudderless; to be a truly healthy, happy person, we all have to have purpose in life. Even though I put my blog on the back burner for awhile, I have found life to be very rewarding and my “purpose” had made for a happy 2019. Now its time to get some new and hopefully interesting information out there in my blog.

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My advise, for what its worth...

My advise to anyone who has either recently retired, is a stay at home Mom, works in an unrewarding job or is otherwise missing something in their lives, think outside the box, find something that makes you happy. When you find this purpose and a little passion, I guarantee you will be happier and healthier in every way.

This is not a new concept, its been talked and written about for several years. Here is a link to an interesting article from Psychology Today. It might give you some ideas for finding purpose in your life and the importance of doing so. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-life/201211/6-keys-finding-your-purpose

I found the article very interesting, I hope you enjoy.

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And, here we go again, again….

The basics of living a healthy life are still the same. Everything I had written was still relevant. Looking back now, these things are probably more relevant than ever. We still need good nutrition, exercise, and adequate sleep, to get healthy and stay that way. There is more to write about than ever though. It has been made abundantly clear that it is even more important that we take responsibility for our own health than it ever was. Relying on Doctors and the health community to keep us healthy is not working out for most people I know.

 

If you have just started following this blog site, or even if you haven't read the blog posts for awhile, go back to see what I think we should all be doing to get and stay healthy. I’ll be taking off from where I left off, adding what I’ve learned over the last 3 years, since Covid became a thing. A lot of information has come out because of the importance of building our immune systems, to be ready for the next health assault that is turned loose on us. I think we all know its coming.

 

Going forward, I will try not to make what I write into a political statement. I will stick with the facts as I know them. What we’ve learned about this virus has definitely influenced what we know about how we can improve our immune systems, something that has always been important but now there are just more people, including some Dr.s , who have been made aware of just how important a strong immune system is now and will be in the future. This is necessary if we want to stay out of the Dr.’s office and especially the hospitals.

 

Ok, I’ll get off of my soap box and write some blog posts.

In my humble opinion, emotional health is one of the most important components of Walking a Healthy Path. Today, I’ll write a short introduction to this side of being healthy and the challenges created by depression..

 

It has long been known that what we think and how we feel not only affects our mental health but also our physical health.  With all the craziness going on in our world, almost everyone experiences bouts of depression, anywhere from just occasionally to chronically.  Whether a person’s depression is caused by a life situation or has a biochemical origin, being “down” can cause a number of physical symptoms such as a lack of motivation,sleep problems, fatigue, chronic pain and digestive issues

 

After suffering the grief of losing my youngest son last year, sadly, I’m speaking from experience.  I would say grief of any kind leaves us very susceptible to some level of depression. In my case, I felt unmotivated and lost for several months. Since Aaron was diagnosed with cancer and passed 8 months later, I have had digestive issues, sleep deprivation, brain fog and 2 bouts of vertigo. Even though I have pulled out of the depression for a while, the next “first '' would come along and I would go back down.  I’m not typically a depressed person, but it does takes some real effort to consciously pull myself out of the hole.   It's been a tough year and I’m pretty sure I’ve aged physically more than a year over this time and I don’t know yet how much permanent damage this trauma has done to my over all physical health.

   

During these times, a person’s support community is so very important!  I’m not sure what I would have done without my wonderful friends and family, while I’ve gone through this natural state of grief.  If a person suffering from grief doesn’t have this kind of support, or even if they do finding a good grief counselor to talk to is very important

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Many people who suffer from more than occasional depression tend to self medicate, using alcohol or other drugs. This usually starts at a young age, creating a dependency on these substances.  Self medication is a subject for another blog about the things that derail a person’s walk on a healthy path and what can be done to help get him or her back on track. Ironically, liquor and many drugs are considered depressants so a person who self medicates is just making their problem even worse.

 

No doubt the saddest effect of chronic depression is suicide, which is on the rise in the U.S.. According to a CU Boulder study, almost 50,000 people in the U.S. took their own lives in 2022, up 3% from the previous year.  95% of all suicides can be linked to depression or some other mental disorder. It’s important to recognize the warning signs of depression, which can include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and isolation.  If you recognize these signs in yourself or in someone close to you, it is very important to seek help before these problems escalate into serious plans to commit suicide.

 

If this is a subject that you can relate to or just interests you, stay tuned for future blogs about how a person’s emotional state can affect their walk on a healthy path and how to get back on the right path. 

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Til later then...

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