Life is crazy ... hang on in there!

I woke up this morning after one whole week of a vegan,nightshade free,sugar free lifestyle choice.I have always been pretty healthy and at times extremely healthy. I go to the doctor each year for a full blood workup to keep a check on my general health and to maintain certain measurements of health within a safe range for me. I say for me as we are all so different and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.As a studying Naturopath I follow a philosophy of moderation and balance with a focus on the individual,however sometimes an approach needs to be taken for a period of time that would be considered by the world as extreme but for the individual necessary for correction and healing. A path of using food as our medicine as Hippocrates said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food". This is the journey I am on and have used this 'Mantra' many times in my life to bring my health to a more perfect balance.

I have some really annoying genetical inheritances ! So when I went to the doctor last week to get the results of my blood tests I was a little shocked at what was delivered to me to say the least considering I was refined sugar free, dairy free, a whole food eater 80% of the time and since January had chosen to stop eating meat and poultry only eat fish. Now I was being told 'you need to do more.' You have got to be kidding me I thought.After taking some time to digest this,I immediately began this new approach,I had been given 3 months by my lovely GP to turn my results around. I'm sure there will be those who are keen advocates of other plans however this is why I emphasise that 'the one pill fits all' recipe is not the best response. So we are clear, I have been allergic to dairy since birth,I have a rare double copied blood clotting gene, Pyroluria, and was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue in my 20's.That's a lot to handle especially when most GP's do not have the time nor the understanding of how to manage this without resorting to their arsenal,but I have really been blessed to have had a mother who was a health nut and got me through my childhood and teenage years in superb condition by providing outstanding nutrition and lots of exercise.

As an adult I discovered just how hard it is, with a family and home to run, to manage the health of us all, so my love,respect and gratitude go out to my mum for that. I really believe it's all about the meaning we attach to things in this life and upon sharing my health status with friendsI had responses like "don't you just want to throw in the towel and eat whatever you want?" I have to assume that if I had not paid close attention so far I might have ended up in terrible trouble with a stroke or other similar complications,I have already experienced the pain and anguish of these issues by suffering from clots during pregnancy and having multiple miscarriages,a couple  of heartbreakingly late term losses of two little boys,so I would say that I am easily inclined to do my best to listen to those around me and my own intuition in order to live a happy long healthy life so I can run,jump,play and be present for all my loved ones and fellow humans!

So here I am and I have to say that today is a battle,even with all my commitment,understanding and mental resilience, today is a tough day. I am feeling tired because I'm still waiting for some pharmaceutical graded activated supplements to get to me as lack the ability to convert my nutrients into active usable forms,so I'm depleted and before you say it,it would make no difference if I ate sugars,proteins or carbs,they would all either temporarily give me a fast or slow release of energy without ever resolving the issue and even some of those things would strip the energy from me very quickly after the high and leave me in worse condition than before ! So I'm patiently waiting,patiently hanging on for this feeling to pass,which I know it will because it has always passed if I can just sit and allow all the wild frenzied emotions to just run their course,they will leave me. So please hurry up and get here my little package of nutrients!

Whatever crisis you might me going through I offer a nugget of wisdom,meet yourself where you are at and be kind and gentle.Sometimes when we are about to have a stern talk with ourselves it's best done with an image of us as a small child,I find that when I do this I'm more inclined to trust and accept my own advice. I'm really praying that this works for me so I can experience the kind of health I had as a teenager,I know it's possible even with a body less willing! I send you my love and buckets of good vibes and invite you to tap into your inner voice,that intuition that we have trained out of ourselves,and listen really carefully to those small whisperings that are coming like the soft gentle steady lapping of crystal clear waves upon a beautiful sandy shore.What do you hear? Where is that voice guiding you? You will be ok,take courage all that you need is already within you. Whatever it is that you face,'this too shall pass' surround yourself with things that support and uplift and be patient with yourself,something I manage on very rare occasions but am trying to accomplish this time with greater success.If life today is good or bad according to your estimation,whatever you do try to be present in each moment,it's the only way out alive!
I'm focusing on this quote from the poet Rumi to help me follow the correct path for me especially regarding my health right now ...

“Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing. It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day. Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full.”

I am going to be wild,beautiful, and free just like thee!

                                                                                                                             
I look at this beautiful picture of my grandson and my heart leaps for joy! Every fibre of his being is completely present in that moment and there is something so spirited about it that it has the power to draw me right into it and actually feel for a split second what he is feeling.Each time I look at it I travel at light speed back to my childhood where I too had similar exquisite moments, and a thought of love and gratitude goes out to my parents who worked so hard to provide me with a treasure chest of memories that have since saved my soul over and over again,and sometimes the memories are so pure that I cannot prevent tears cascading from my eyes and down my cheeks like a waterfall of emotions.

Don't think for one second that my childhood was perfect in any way but there were so many perfect moments that I am able to draw upon to brace me up and soothe my soul,that is the gift I have been given and to which I owe a debt of gratitude for. If we are living then we will experience the full spectrum of the rainbows and the thunderstorms,the stillness and the cracking thunder,the peace of a perfect sunrise and the fear of what tomorrow may hurl at us so fast we are left reeling in shock.I have come to truly understand that I am the sum of all my choices plus a few little extra nuggets strewn across my pathway by others,some so beautiful like spotting the perfect shell on the beach you just have to run and pick it up and look over every piece of it turning it in the palm of your hand in wonder at how such an amazing thing could ever exist and what a miracle it was that you should find it! Others so deeply gruelling,such personal gethsemane moments that we are compelled to cry out in pain to our creator for relief,for help,to hold us up above the quagmire in the hollow of His hand for a while until we can gather enough courage to take a little peek into the blackness and dip our toes back into this experience we call life.

And so... this brings me to the purpose of this blog,'Together we really do Bloom'! Life can be enjoyed so much more with people around us,we get to learn and grow from each other.It is so much better and divinely inspired I believe that we are each so uniquely different from each other,if this were not the case how would we evolve as human beings? How would we blossom into the very best version of ourselves and become a beacon to others.Over time I plan to share thoughts,feelings,experiences you may be able to draw upon for your own circumstances. As a studying naturopath I would love to share beautiful recipes and lifestyle choices to enjoy a more vibrant healthy mind & body and connect with the world we live in with an abundant mentality ready to give and live.I do this with lots of support and a whole bucket of love from me and my gang to you and yours.

Spiritual strength brings inner peace....

Sitting here this morning before life in the house awakens, I have time to reflect upon my life and the feelings of my soul and am left with a feeling of deep gratitude to know that Heavenly Father knows my exact location in this universe. I know this because I have had so many answers to prayers that would require him to know where I am in order for certain blessings to come my way. It does not matter if I take an unplanned walk or if I visit a friend, He knows where I am and can guide and direct every action, every thought if I draw myself to Him. I want to say THANK YOU at the top of my lungs at times and at others I truly am so grateful to be able to say it from the deepest recesses of my heart because I need it to be just 'us' who are in on the secret of my feelings and to know that He hears that too. I look to the Heavens often in awe and wonder that He is there, I can't see Him but I KNOW that He is and that is enough for the most part. Then there are those moments when it feels like nothing else can heal our hearts except He come down and encircle us in His arms, and for this He has provided us with Mothers'. Even when they are on the other side of the world (Like my beautiful little Mother, I say little because she is! I appreciate the pain & effort that her 5' 2'' went through to bring my long gangly body into this world), our Mothers voice and words can put us back to a feeling of calm and peace. Who says there is no such thing as energy healing? A mother's kiss, a rub better, a loving word, a hug, all these things require the giver and receiver to send and receive with the energy of love, something that cannot be seen but can only be felt. Thank you Mum, for always saying the things that I need to know, not always what I want to hear, but without fail are the things that allow me to feel the love of my Heavenly Father.
So to Aaron's Mumsy who has loved him also in this manner, now I get to be married to a wonderful GENT whom I call 'Beau, to our Grandmothers' who have loved us with that indescribable pure love that only a Grandmother can give and to my Mother whom has been a constant reflection of my Saviours love in my life HAPPY MOTHERS DAY and thank you from the bottom of my heart.