Day 21 - "Rearranged"

Today was one of those days that you don't want to pass up... The film "The Bucket List" has an incredible few moments, with lines spoken by Jack Nicholson's character, (and I paraphrase), "There are three things in life that I've learned... Never pass a bathroom, Never waste a Hard-On, and Never trust a fart."

I know, not pretty words, but most likely the truest and most honest observations ever made about the simplicities of aging. As I age, now in my 40's, I realize that there are many things that we can look forward to and realistically hold close, and there are other basic, biological facts that we must face. The same heart, the same mind, the same spirit, the same energy, and the same young, excited, curious girl is inside this body, looking out of the portals that are these eyes. But biologically, this body is a machine. And like all machines, it will eventually wear and tear, and need repair until it is beyond repair. The cells don't regenerate the same way they did when I was a child. Body parts are not longer developing, (unless we consider stuff dragging the ground as "developing") brain function begins to slow, as do our reflexes, and our systems begin to change with nature's path. Nature is an amazing woman, and we love her so, but we need to learn to commune with her so that our changes are expected and flowing rather than something we fight.

A few months back, I awoke in the middle of the night expecting to fully understand the whole "spontaneous combustion" theory... I felt a fire inside of me, making me sweat, my side of the bed soaked, my pillow wringing wet, the sheets stuck to me. Nausea welled it's way up, and I bolted upright, making my way in the dark to the master bath. Once there, I found that it wasn't nausea... that maybe I just needed to sit upright. The top of my head began spewing forth a fountain of perspiration, dripping down my forehead, my hair matted to my skull. What was happening to me???? My hands, my feet, my back! Oh, my back!!! I could almost see the steam coming off my arms!! I sat in the water closet, imagining myself bursting into flame, falling off the toilet and onto the floor. I could just see how the next morning would be... my daughter coming downstairs, looking for me, and finding me in a pile of ash, surrounded by fragments of charred nightgown, one burnt, bony hand clutching the toilet paper roll holder!

And then... it passed. I have a theory... Spontaneous Combustion is simply one of us having these nightly episodes, only it doesn't pass. It's nature's way of cleansing us from toxins that build up as we prepare to finish that phase of our life called "the Menstrual Cycle". Each month, as young, childbearing women, we release our "toxins" in various other ways. (I personally like to "release" them on my partner in the form of tears and angry rants for about two days!) As we age, we begin to learn to control those rants, but all the stuff inside of us has to come out, and it releases itself in the form of HOT HELL-FIRE STEAM!!!

Food is an amazing resource to help us deal with things that happen in our bodies. We turn to it for comfort, we mix it in different ways to help our bodies absorb it better, (tomatoes & avacado, oranges & spinach) we use it for medicinal purposes, (flax seed & salmon for the heart, bananas & orange juice for our muscles, herbs for everything from an upset stomach to stabilizing blood pressure) and we even use it for our outer appearances. (lemon juice to lighten our hair, honey & oatmeal for skincare, eggs as a shampoo/conditioner) We sleep better after eating certain foods and drinking certain teas, and we fight fat by eating more, but in the right combinations!

I've not had one of those episodes since that night. I'm not looking forward to them, but when they do happen, I've already warned my patient, loving, understanding partner that if he wakes in the night to find me roaming around in the back yard in the middle of winter, shoeless, to simply leave me be for a bit. Chances are, I just need to cool off. In the meantime, I'll do a little research on foods/herbs/combinations that will help ease these, or at least give me the strength and breath to move through them.

The three realizations from "The Bucket List"... All three things are definitely applying to my life right now! And yes... that's right... even the second one. :)