The Impressionable

Here we are another week and starting a brand new month, I still haven't managed to really truly exercise and it's not just lack of motivation. Some may say "you're a hypochondriac" and to the naked eye and without knowing me you would see exactly that. However there are some things that are not seen. I do have arthritis, migraines and pressure headaches, sleep deprivation, restless leg syndrome and anxiety. I also probably have bouts of depression on some days. That being said a lot of people probably wouldn't know even at work that I'm suffering these things because I try to push forward with a smile on my face as if nothing is even wrong. Even when.. and as personal as this is and perhaps gross to some to discuss, bowel issues arise with constipation and believe me a great amount of pain can come from it, enough to feel like I could topple over and cry.  And though I eat fiber and all that good stuff, that just turns the tables sometimes to the opposite, near diarrhea which can also be just as painful with just as many cramps etc. But again people would not suspect this from me.  It's not something I usually openly discuss at work and when you're on the phone and sitting there in pain you have to bite the bullet and sit there until the call is done. I'm not the only one who has health issues like this on a regular basis either. And there are many of us that have other issues, as I said earlier such as anxiety that when worked up or when the wrong thing is said etc. it can trigger emotional things as well that we wouldn't regularly expect.

 So this week there are a few things I'd like to talk about. The first being "invisible illness". There are many of them and I know a great many friends who suffer from things like arthritis, fibromialgia, anxiety, depression etc. There are too many to even name. Even one family friend a long time back suffered from Lupus and admittedly as a child I really didn't understand what that was until I got older, it's a form of cancer and though some people would say "you seem just fine" these illnesses can be and are deadly. Lime disease is another one that the people who have it seem like they're fine at first but they all have days that they can't even get out of bed or can't walk or take half an hour just to get dressed etc. because they're in so much pain. They have their good days and their bad. I feel like there should be more awareness about these type of things especially in the workplace. Not saying you should take advantage of it as some people just might, and that's unfortunate and makes me sometimes lose faith in the human race. But what I'm saying is that there should be some sort of set up for those who do want to work and can do small jobs here and there to make them feel like they're still human and part of life.  It doesn't just affect the old, it affects the young too.

Leading to the idea of work, it's a common thing to be working, a lot. In fact back in the day it was more common for just one parent to be working while the other stayed home and most people such as my grandparents may have come from a generation where their parents perhaps worked on farms and only one stayed home really. One person was the breadwinner. However as time went on, the war happened and then women fought for rights (not saying that's a bad thing here ladies), women then had to work and when the men came back it was became more and more common that both worked or the women worked.  That being said now two people were working in the home but the work schedules admittedly at the time still meant that you still could make home cooked meals, sat around the table when possible and quite frequently had a homemade lunch to take to school. Even as I was growing up, I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, snacks and homemade cookies at times, or even soup in a thermos which was my favorite during winter months. I had fresh fruit until I couldn't eat them anymore!

This has changed unfortunately. With more and more moms and dads not being at all stay at home and having to work due to a changing economy and expectations that more is better and with a ton of tech at our disposal why not leave the kids with the tv as a babysitter? Why not give them a game console or ipod and leave them alone? Well this raises a ton of questions. 1. Why are we leaving our children with tech rather than a human relation and why are we not spending as much time with them  right from the time of birth? 2. Is tech leading to a distant connection to humanity causing our children to be more insensitive to feelings and others and to be more violent? 3. Is this one of the leading causes of child and even adult obesity, the fact we have no time to make proper sit down meals? and 4. Does this not leave our children open for being taken among other scary things?
To address question 1. We leave them alone because it's convenient and we're time consumed with work. In fact in a study recently done (unfortunately I can't re-find the link on yahoo reporting it), it has been shown that women actually work more and more until the end of their pregnancy and actually take smaller amounts of time off before and after the birth of their child due to high expectations in the workplace. It also showed employers by law have to allow the women to come back to work after a certain period of time of maternity leave which most employers do not like and hence another reason why women who are trying so hard to have more of a standing place in the workforce are trying to shine and work their hardest right before they leave.  This has been shown to be just as bad as smoking!! Babies who's moms worked that hard showed that they had difficulty later in life with further health issues and were of lesser weight than those who's moms actually took the time off. This being said that also too those with unpaid leave went back early spending even less time with their child.  I feel that putting a child in daycare etc. is not right within the first 2 years at least maybe even 3 years of their life. I think every woman or man, who wants to be a stay at home parent should be a requirement that at least one do so in a two parent home for that 2-3 year standard. I also feel single moms or dads for that time with no joint custody should also have some kind of leave for that and some sort of assistance with this or work part time with assistance rather than expectations of a full 8 hour day. However again unfortunately due to economic demands this will most likely never be seen as the old says of spending time with your child seem to have passed.

Leading to question 2. Technology is such a big factor here and we have no time to waste spending it outside... heaven's no!!! Forget playing ball outside or going for family bike rides or walks, just sit your kid in front of the tv or expect them to play unsupervised games and videos. I believe that this is leading to child insensitivity and cruelty. The more I see reports of violence I wonder too if media influence has something to do with it upon an impressionable mind. The most impressionable ages are from time of a baby right until your 20's and really you should be aware by the time you're in your 20's what's right and wrong , assuming no wires are crossed. But who is there to teach you? A mentor? A parent? Or is it the media? When I was a kid I watched cartoons just as any other kid but I was encouraged to read, go outside and play ball and treat nature and my siblings and other people with respect. If I didn't there was discipline to be had by either teacher or ... parent. I may not be a parent and there is no hand guide for it and each child is different. So disciplining rules range.  But there still must be some kind of order or a knowledge of what is good and what is wrong. This also leaves children at home sitting down doing ... nothing. They aren't stimulating their brains with puzzles and being active. Now heading to question 3,  children and teens are sitting doing nothing and sitting and eating junk food  or fast food which has more sodium, fats and cholesterol than a home cooked meal! Why is this? Because we have no time to make it. Even I admit I've succumbed as an adult to fast food more and more. But when I was a kid, it was once a month or every two or 3 months if not even a year! We lived in a small town where though it's grown now, fast food was not at every corner, it was in the nearest city a half hour away or more.  We made our fun and we made our own food and there was one summer where all I wanted to eat was salad for lunch and drink water and more water and have on occasion a bbq'd burger or hot dog made by the bbq specialist in our family, Dad.  And even when I moved out on my own I tried to cook, cook, cook! I still get fresh veggies and make pasta with veggies rather than canned sauce and try to make other home made things such as oatmeal cookies etc. Like grandma used to make! Just so much better because you know what's in it and you put the effort into it. It also allows time spent with family and an appreciation. Even my awesome step mom and my niece spend time making cookies and such because it's good quality family time and it's better for you.

Breifly touching on question 4 here but after all the recent abductions and murders of children in my area etc. I feel like this should be mentioned. Now I'm not saying that any of you reading this or your friends are super bad parents or anything. Don't get me wrong my journal is not to offend! But I speak out against these things because it is a growing concern and we want our children to have a healthy understanding of the world. It's not just food this blog is about and being adult healthy, but our children our our next generation and we want them to have a positive and bright future. Why not start now in instilling that information and positivity into them now, to have hope? Why aren't we using local farmers, creating a better economy, creating and making healthier choices? They are impressionable and now is the time to make that impression as great moms and dads.

So now I leave you with these thoughts. I know I've talked about some of this before but new info always arises. As for myself these days, I try to get games for the kids that use their minds and keeps them active and try to make myself so too! I can't say I haven't tried. But as of late, due to a bunch of things, not just made up excuses, I find myself hard to motivate and sometimes due to pain I just can't do it. Some days I'll admit that I hurt even walking to work despite stretching etc. So for those who read this who sometimes feel like I do or who want to be fit and have pain etc. you're not alone! All I can say is try to stay positive, put a smile on your face and don't let the world get you down and keep on trying on a day that you're feeling up to it and feeling better. :)