Thought Picnic: How normalcy helps the healing process

We need something holding up

Imagine being on a boat in a storm, the boat getting battered by waves and buffeted by the winds, as long as the boat is not disintegrating, you will probably stay on the boat with the hope that you can weather the storm.

It is the same with many other situations in life, during times of fragility and vulnerability you want to know that something is constant and sturdy. You appreciate the little joys and pleasures being thankful for the snatches of happiness that come your way.

With regards to others, the desire is that they are not also falling apart just as your world seems to be falling apart, they would sometimes create the normalcy you need in support, succour, encouragement, understanding, and comfort.

Little sacrifices go a long way

Every tendency to be impulsive is put aside so as not to cause upset, offence, or rupture. Knowing that in the earthquakes of living some things are immovable given the relationships you have gives you a sense that the turmoil is limited in its range and when put in perspective, things are not as bad as they seem.

Obviously, it is a bit much to ask that others abandon their individuality and engagements for you, though some would commit to more than that to help take your mind off things, they avoid where the many minor issues when looked at together seem like a pile on of the upsetting and the consequential.

Upset and offence is easy without care

You want to ask for a small thing and hope you have been heard. Yet, human nature, in its various inclinations of satisfying lust, want, or need can come across as uncaring, wilful, obdurate, and selfish.

That minor shift becomes a major upset, and you begin to lose essential concentration on the particular because the peripheral that you hoped was unshifting has become part of the storm indistinguishable from the rest and impactful in its effect.

Probably people do not realise how significant their role is in helping maintain some normalcy for others undergoing issues, even sometimes to their own detriment, for in keeping things as they are they become part of the healing process others need.

Men's things - X

Registers of choice and fate

Registers are interesting repositories of information indicating where you might belong, in a class, with a group, by choice or automatically. Your curiosity about registers is to determine what is stored about you and could correct incorrect or changed information.

It starts with birth registrations that include your full name, the names and occupations of your parents, when and where you were born, and the day the entry was placed in the register.

With life, you will probably have to register a birth, a marriage, and a death, the first and last is usually done by someone else. In school, you might end up on a register with a roll call to determine who is present or absent. As an adult where any semblance of a democracy exists, we might say a voters’ register.

Another register that matters to me is predicated on religious faith; being in the Lamb’s Book of Life having accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and Saviour. “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (NLT) [BibleHub: Revelation 21:27]

Not this register at any time

In my meeting last week, it was said in passing and I heard the nurse right; it was one register to which I would never have wanted my name appended, and my utmost desire is to be taken off that register with the testimony of an all-clear having had a prior proof of a diagnosis.

Yes, there is a National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service and with a cancer diagnosis, the person is automatically registered, to track how cancer is managed nationally. You can seek with apparent difficulty to have your information removed by opting out. [CRUK: What is cancer registration?]

While I would rather not answer present if my name is called out of this register, I appreciate that when it comes to cancer treatment, the book of knowledge that is brought to bear on any new diagnosis comes from the long trail of studies, treatments, observations, and the lives of those who succumbed to the disease and the many who survived too.

Registered for better outcomes

That is why when in a consulting room, I welcome students to participate in the conversation. I engage them fully and try to paint a picture of how some of the wonders of progressive developments in medicine, have helped deal with disease that once was a life sentence but is manageable for some, curable for others, or controllable for many.

Sometimes, the prospects and options for dealing with men’s things when biopsies return positive results can be daunting. My decision is not to dwell on this but to encourage myself with messages about healing, living, wellness, and strength.

What I do with the knowledge of a cancer diagnosis is everything, and what I intend to have, is a better story than what any prognosis suggests. The first step to this is checking on your men’s things, going for the requisite tests, attending all appointments to discuss any issues and giving yourself the early fighting chance of knowing you have the choice of a possible cure.

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Coronavirus streets in Manchester - LXXV

Shopping around for pricks

At lunchtime today I had been phoning around to find a pharmacy, chemist, apothecary, or even a shamanist grotto offering the NHS Seasonal Vaccination for COVID-19, normally termed the booster shot.

I found a chemist location that did not have a pharmaceutical reference in their name suggesting they could give the shot today when I called yesterday afternoon. As I did not want another wasted journey, I called again this morning and was told, that if I arrived before 5:00PM, I could get the jab.

It would have been a 35-minute walk, but I got on a bus and the area looked familiar enough even as it is miles away from where I live. When I got there, I was asked to sit in a waiting area where I was the only one for the vaccine booster.

Those were big bulging lips

Soon, a young lady, trim and straining to be polite came out and asked for my name and other particulars, I noticed that all my data was presented on the computer she was working from. Her makeup was light, but it appeared she had gone for the prominent lip-boosted look, highly exaggerated and heavy with lip gloss, you could say the lips belonged on a Barbie doll, but what do I know about ladies’ lips?

The section where I was to be given the jab was in the front of the store by the window with a one-way screen, you could see out but those on the street could not see in. Sometimes, you need to be convinced that is really the case. People may not see the way you see things, and that includes lips too.

This would be the 8^th COVID-19-related prophylactic jab, 6 of the Pfizer type and 2 of the Moderna type mRNA injections.

She did not introduce the hypodermic needle with the customary, “Just a scratch,” that you hear nurses say when you are about to take the prick of a needle. It is a thinner needle, and the deed is done before you know it.

It went into my upper left arm, and in the little banter we had after being injected she said people had been coming from far away to get the vaccine. There is an inventory management issue as not all listed chemists have stocks to serve their communities.

A busman living for trouble

Back at the bus stop for my return journey, there was a bus in a minute, and it did arrive as I tried to wave it down to stop. The driver looked in my direction and shrugged, not even slowing down at all. I overlooked the slight as there was another bus scheduled to arrive, but someone standing at the bus stop with me and another walking up to the bus stop who put out his arm to wave it to a stop both said the bus had enough time to stop for me.

Much as I said I was not bothered, they read more into the event, apart from calling the driver unprintable names, they both indicated the driver was racist, these were two white men who had witnessed something probably unfair, cruel, or unjust, and they were quite riled up. The other man who attempted to wave down the bus said he would report the issue.

At which point, I posted a tweet to the Bee Network that runs the bus services in Greater Manchester just as the next and now, double-decker bus arrived and stopped for me to board. The jab seemed to exacerbate a sense of tiredness affecting my concentration, and as that wore off, it is just the slight pain in the area that suggests I had my dermis punctured earlier today.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - LXXIV

Out of sight, but still about

You rarely hear of it anymore, that is the Coronavirus or COVID-19, but to think it has disappeared totally is to be deluded beyond reason. Even if you do not follow the statistics, there are signs, notifications, or indications that we still need some precautions.

I cannot say for what reason, but I have noticed seemingly healthy young people donning facemasks and those are not passing for balaclavas envisaging criminal behaviour nor is this observed on the typically Far-East Asian cohort who have no qualms about masking and this before it became an accessory for infectious disease control here.

Beckoning for a reckoning

Then obviously the notices pushed to our mobile phones for those over a certain age or are immunosuppressed. This tranche of vaccine boosters is to run until the 30^th of June, but you cannot get a pharmacy to walk in for a shot.

Apart from the fact that there is none in the city centre where outlets like Boots or Superdrug could have been engaged, I guess there is no incentive for other chemists to participate. Last week, I made my way to one chemist that had unusually long opening hours and they had no supplies and were not expecting any for up to two weeks hence.

The lesson learnt was to call first before embarking on my journey and it seems the shortage is widespread, they are not inviting anyone to attend today and the possibility of being able to deliver tomorrow is speculative, at best.

Is anyone giving the jab?

The apparent lack of coordination between the drive to get us boosted and the absence of stocks to meet the demand is, in a way, redolent of the legacy of the NHS that the Tories have superintended in 14 years. However, few would take notice of that reality.

If I do get a booster anytime soon, it would be the first 2 vaccines and the 5^th booster and I would rather have it following the advice than listen to the unqualified with their conspiracy theories about COVID-19, the vaccines, and much else. The greater culprits in this atrocity and disservice to public health seem to be religious leaders.

It still behoves all to keep safe and I do have a stash of facemasks in my rucksack for times when it just seems smart and prudent to wear one.

Thought Picnic: Choose your travel companions carefully

Sharing with the caring

Choose your travel companions carefully, they are usually rarely blood-related but the bonding that grows between you gives a daring sense of adventure that you won’t wish for another to share the experience.

The journeys you venture on in life come with perils and triumphs, you must think about who would support and succour you first in the wilderness and long before you get to the city comforts that mask the true nature of your company.

Know the wolf cries

Fairweather friends are many, feigning interest, love, and engagement, sometimes our discernment and the ability to be a judge of character deserts us and in the process, we face unexpected betrayal and hurt. To know the signs early is to be blessed beyond measure.

When you are following someone, do not follow them too close so that you cannot cut yourself loose when they are determined to end up in a ditch. You do not have to be collateral out of blind loyalty. Fall because of your misstep rather than out of using another’s eyes.

Know the person indeed

If your friends are your relations, you are probably lucky, in every case. judge a person on their own character and integrity and avoid allowing the corporate trust in an environment of allegiances like a place of worship, business, or a club to vouch for your association. Many have had their fingers burnt in being taken advantage of by malevolent people covered by community settings.

Be wary of sycophancy or bias, take the compliments and test the sincerity of anything that attempts to puff you up, between friends, honesty, frankness, openness, and bluntness does crucially matter. You need to know who would pull you out of the fire. They will always stand with you yet will not let you get away with bad behaviour. We all need accountability partners, cherish them with love, honour and respect.

Choose your travel companions wisely, that can be the difference between getting to your destination or perishing along the way.

Having a spirit of gratitude

Guy Penrod - Count Your Blessings (Live) Gaither Music TV.

With tears of joy

“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” Helen Keller

There are variations of the quote above attributed to others in sermons, books, or articles, however, Helen Keller was profound in the fact that she was both blind and deaf from the age of 19 months old.

What is significant about this saying is having a great sense of gratitude regardless of your circumstances, because there is almost definitely someone quite worse off than you are.

Sometimes, I just watch one of those talent shows to see surprising performances from amazing and extraordinary people who have overcome serious adversity to showcase their talent before what eventually is a global audience. The times I have cried for joy on their behalf are innumerable as you reflect on the goodness of life you enjoy.

Join with the blessed

Learning not to be pitiful, but exceedingly thankful is a state of mind; maybe even the grace of being able to put things in perspective. Giving not too much weight to what is going wrong when you can lift your spirits with what is going right.

Knowing how to count your blessings, great and small, naming them one by one like the old hymn says, can make all the difference to how your day is going. 

I take much encouragement from the beauty and support that surrounds me, Brian, who is ever loving and unstintingly filling my ears with loveliness, friends who have my back through thick and thin, God, my rock, my shield, my shelter, my comfort, and my strength. [Hymnary.org Count Your Blessings]

When the going gets tough, and the outlook seems rough, you feel you have had enough. “Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.”

Thought Picnic: My strength in faith over adversity

And so I learnt

It was information I was already privy to due to indiscretions and the mismanagement of information from departments first and then blamed on computer systems. I suppose, unlike my first encounter with this experience, I was not going to approach it with denial and allow it to take hold to the point of a life-threatening emergency.

At the same time, I contacted the hospital to remonstrate the unfortunate abuse of process, someone should have been proofreading and assessing any communication before the send button was pressed.

I got an apologetic call from the doctor with the offer to have the said indication redacted. Well, how helpful is erasing information you have already read when you are not living in the reality of a “Men In Black” movie?

I know the truth

In any case, I took the information with the view that the battles ahead have been won for me, and my trust in Him will make a way. I will call those things that are not as though they were, rather than call the things that are as if they were not. [BibleHub: Romans 4:17]

This is usually the confusion of faith we need to unlearn, relearn, understand and reaffirm. In matters of life and death, you want to know who and what you believe and be sure that you are believing right.

On the cross of Calvary, He bore our sin and sins. Still, before He was nailed to the cross of agonising death at the hands of the Roman state, He took stripes, a relentless whipping that tore strips of flesh off his body that according to Scripture and observation, he was impossible to behold for the wounds on him. Those wounds represent every manner of disease and illness that visits humankind in its mildness and extremity. [Bible Gateway: Isaiah 53:1-5 (NLT)]

I know I’m healed

Jesus Christ was spoken of by the prophets, and when He came to the world, “He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” Matthew 8:16. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” (NLT) [BibleHub: Matthew 8:17] Healing is present and available as it was then and it will be until He returns, I live in the truth of what Jesus did for me.

That is why I am not afraid but emboldened to face the hours, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years ahead. I will constantly be encouraged by the Word of God, and by the anointed preaching of the Word on faith, healing, living, and prospering in my soul and body.

I will frame my own world by the Word of God [Hebrew 11:3]. This is His will for me, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (KJV) [BibleHub: 3 John 2]