WTA… Return of the UTI and 10,000 all-time Harnessing Happiness downloads!

As I was mulling over the topic of my blog post this week, all nature of things that have occurred since I last put the metaphorical ‘pen to paper’ sprung to mind.

As a side note, I do so love using a fountain pen with purple ink to write … there is something so satisfying about writing with a creative instrument.  Seeing someone’s handwriting tells you so much about that person, as graphologists know all too well.

https://www.britishgraphology.org/about-british-institute-of-graphologists/what-is-graphology/

I’m not too sure what mine will tell the world about me … I do remember though consciously wanting to create a flamboyant signature when I was 10 years old in readiness for fame and fortune.

I’m still waiting!  😅

The good news this week – I am thrilled to announce that Harnessing Happiness https://bit.ly/Harnessing_Happiness, my fabulous podcast, has now had 10,000 all-time downloads – which is absolutely blooming fantastic!

In fact, wow, wow, wow, how did that just happen?!

I’ll tell you how … in addition to Pete, my podcast producer, asking Podbean to feature my podcast, which they kindly did at the beginning of February, I have also been fortunate enough to record a diverse range of interesting, insightful, and empowering episodes with fantastic guests.  All sharing their stories and their take on life, happy to share their wisdom and the tools and techniques they use to ensure they live a happy life.  And of course, there is plenty of laughter too.

The podcast has been downloaded widely across the globe, with the highest downloads naturally being in English speaking regions:  USA, UK, Canada, and Australia, although it has been downloaded throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and in remote locations such as Mauritius and St Lucia (and others that I never knew existed).  In fact, I bought a world map on a pin board a few weeks ago to track where the podcast has been downloaded … as a result, I’ve been learning a lot about world geography!

I may need that flamboyant signature and my purple ink-filled fountain pen yet!

So, it has been quite a week, and not all great… about a week ago, I suddenly recognised the signs that the UTI I’d had out of the blue (never having had one in my life before) had returned.  A quick call to the doctor, antibiotics organised, and a couple of days of feeling rubbish and wiped out followed.

It was touch and go whether I to go to my local parkrun on Saturday, but I wanted to support Gareth and Rob and their C25K graduates, and it was a glorious morning, so I heaved myself out of bed with the plan to sit it out with a coffee.  It didn’t turn out quite like that, as I grabbed my barcode wrist band as we left the house and made the decision to walk, not run, the parkrun … there are always participants who walk it as well as run it, and there are always volunteer tail walkers there, so you’ll never be last!

This was a great decision – what a fantastic walk it was! One of my friends had volunteered at the last minute to be a tail walker, so we nattered for 2 miles, at which point I decided to walk with purpose for the final mile.  We’d been walking very slowly behind a young lady who spoke no English attending her first parkrun with a limp.  The parkrun ethos is to ensure everyone is looked after, and as she indicated that she wanted to rest for a bit, and I wanted to get back, I took the opportunity to take my leave and spend that last mile in my own thoughts.

I did get a bit carried away with the final 50 yards though as despite wearing inappropriate clothing I decided to sprint into the funnel.  Much to the shock of the volunteer timekeepers!

And from there, it was off to catch up with friends in the sunshine with a coffee.

There is no better start to the weekend!

I still had to be mindful though not to overdo things (something I learned from last time),  so we shelved our plans to head to the outdoor show at the NEC and pottered around the garden instead. It was the perfect tonic.

While we’re talking about health matters, I also had my appointment with a menopause consultant last week.  Now that was an interesting experience!

Despite being in pain due to the return of this UTI (which I personally believe has its root cause in some raw chicken that I was served at Wagamama’s early in January.  And it was definitely raw, not even pink!) off I toddled to attend the appointment.  Had I not, I would have been charged anyway.

I’d also been forewarned that this consultant was very straight talking.  All well and good.

However, I didn’t bargain for feeling rubbish, which was probably part of the reason I felt like a schoolgirl who hadn’t done her homework.  In fact, I felt like I was very ill-informed for a meeting with someone who knew their stuff, and being unwell, I didn’t feel in a good place to stand my ground.

I came away with a prescription for HRT and associated stuff, but to be honest, I really don’t think that is what I need.

I went to try a get a better understanding of my health and find out more about what might be happening to my body in terms of weight gain.  What I did hear though was that mindset and diet / nutrition is what I needed to be looking at, and she told me about the Keto diet.

Fortunately, the following morning I had a Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) session scheduled with Tracy Tsang (who I recorded one of my earlier podcast episodes with https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/012-transformational-therapies-sarah-chats-to-tracy-tsang/id1587903319?i=1000542775174); and the focus of this session, during which Tracy works on a deep subconscious level, was  my relationship with food.  In short, RTT works with hypnotherapy to bring about transformation by identifying the root cause of any issue, addressing it and rewiring with positive messages.

Without going into the full experience, it was brilliant and identified why my subconscious mind had been wired in such a way that I was gaining weight regardless of exercise / not eating any differently.

Interestingly, the whole synchronicity of these events taking place saw me having an interesting conversation with a lovely new US-based friend, Gwenne, who told me about a book The Plant Paradox – The Hidden Dangers in ‘Health’ Foods that Cause Disease and Weight Gain.  Naturally I headed to Amazon, read a few pages, they resonated, and I am now itching to read it as it really spoke to me.

It really is fascinating to observe these trajectories that we can find ourselves on!

What have I learned in reflection:

  • Following your passions, investing in yourself, and loving what you do is paramount
  • Listening to your body and actioning remedies ASAP is key to your health
  • When you take part in your usual activities in a different way, you have a completely different experience
  • Just because you consult an expert, you don’t have to go with their suggestions – follow your instinct and intuition
  • Be curious, ask questions, investigate, follow your flow, and the answers will present themselves – for example, via my lively Facebook group facebook.com/groups/harnessinghappiness4life/ (please do head over and join if you aren’t already a member), a conversation evolved and Christine Kenny, a Registered Dietitian & Nutritionist who I have also recorded a podcast episode with https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/020-for-the-love-of-food-sarah-chats-to-christine-kenny/id1587903319?i=1000545580348 said that the Keto diet removes fibre which isn’t actually good for the body. Again, wisdom arriving just at the right time for me!
  • RTT is an amazing therapy, and I am already feeling the benefits
  • Following your instincts and tuning into life’s synchronicities brings about learning and wisdom
  • My life is so varied, and I am grateful to have made contacts with incredible humans across the globe, all focused on making other people’s lives better through the sharing of their experiences, learning and wisdom
  • As everything organically evolves, I will get chance to use my purple ink and flamboyant signature!