By Makheni Zonneveld
We’re continuing to make this your best year ever! If you missed the January episode, titled ‘Make this the best year ever,’ please check it out.
Today, we delve into overcoming one of the two main obstacles to optimal living. I received a call from 41-year-old Lisa (not her real name) after we had lost contact for a while. She called when I was just about to start my morning walk, allowing us to talk for an hour and a half.
She described the extreme symptoms that had plagued her since she developed hives over a year ago. Her condition is so serious that she is undergoing Prednisone treatment with hectic side effects. The hives were triggered by stress due to sexual harassment at work, and, in true South African style, the perpetrator was protected, leading to her losing her job. After months of job seeking, she found a stressful job that pays very little. She is so ill that the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration hearing has not yet taken place because every time she had to postpone it due to being too ill.
She is aware that this serious condition was triggered by stress and made worse by what she eats and continuing stress. That awareness is a good start. Before addressing stress, I suggested starting with her diet. She mentioned that she started eating healthily after the diagnosis, but it did not help. I often hear this ‘eating healthily’ claim and always probe further, asking the person exactly what their healthy eating entails. She said that she stopped eating bread and meat. Those are indeed great choices, but the next question was what she ate instead of bread and meat. She eats couscous instead of bread and tofu instead of meat.
Like most people who want to eat healthily, she was surprised to learn that couscous and tofu are not health products because, just like bread, couscous is made of wheat, and tofu is firstly made of soya, which affects hormones. Secondly, just like all fake meats, it is a concoction of flavourants, colourants, preservatives, and other additives. In short, like all other replacements, it is a cancer factory. She had also wasted her limited income on a gut detox and said she was saving up for a liver detox.
This young woman is really suffering. She is sick and tired of the side effects of Prednisone, so she said that she is willing to do anything to get relief. She was very receptive to the nutrition advice and said that she would stop wasting her hard-earned money on detoxes and instead stop consuming foodstuffs that toxify her body. After listening empathetically and debunking these and other health myths, it was time to focus on stress. I told her that although the body does not need any physical detox, a mental detox is crucial for mental and physical healing. I was not at all surprised when her receptiveness and even her tone changed when I asked her if she had forgiven him. She said, “It’s not only him. It’s the whole company!”
It was easier to help her overcome the first obstacle, which was a lack of proper information on proper nutrition. When people are already suffering due to ill health, they become more receptive to information on proper nutrition. I know from personal experience. When I received the information that saved me from an operation in 2008, I implemented everything immediately, and I was sorted out in under two weeks.
However, like her, I did not forgive the first time I heard about forgiveness. I only realized after forgiving what clinging to unforgiveness had cost me. We do not forgive because we think that the perpetrator does not deserve forgiveness. In 2002, I forgave after decades of oppressing myself with resentment. Ever since, I have used every opportunity to spread the forgiveness message. In 2003, I recorded a CD on what makes forgiveness so difficult and also how to escape this self-imposed prison. As soon as I recovered my costs, I distributed it for free, and in 2013, I turned it into an MP3 format. Now, it is one of the Free Health Club (FHC) free resources offered on the link below.
Are you one of the many who battle with unforgiveness after being offended, abused, or treated unfairly in any other way? I hope that the fact that Lisa finds it difficult to forgive despite such suffering and that I too took decades to forgive will help you realize that you are not alone. The good news is that forgiving is difficult but not impossible. Hopefully, the fact that many have benefited from the 2003 recording will encourage you to take this crucial step in your journey to making this the best year of your life.
In an attempt to help on your wellness journey, I answer your wellness questions and offer the following: Monthly quick tips, wellness talks, wellness coaching (virtually), and also FHC free resources such as the forgiveness recording and The QuickStart Programme. The QuickStart Programme is a free excerpt of the wellness book, Healthier and Slimmer. It will be available on amazon.com from the 6th of March 2024. If you are in Zambia, you can order it from Africana Woman.
Makheni Zonneveld AKA The Coolest Granny in Town, is an energetic 1953 vintage model. She is a speaker, wellness coach, storyteller and author.
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