Are You Feeling Down? This 80-Year-Old Beach Secret is Your Ultimate Pick-Me-Up
The Sunday Best Round Up #20
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Sometimes the world of podcasts gloriously meshes with the real world, in a kaleidoscope of colourful symmetry and cosmic oneness.
Said no one ever.
Unless they were exceptionally pretentious, dim-witted, and full of absolute tomfoolery.
Well if the hat fits… 🙂
Today let me share with you a bitter-sweet Shakespearean-esque play of 3 acts which weaves together podcasts, tough life experiences, and a joyful octogenarian swimming friend of mine.
OK button up (buttercup) ‘cos here we go…
Act 1 - Yesterday morning
The place:
Podcast world (aka my car stereo)
Yep I was listening to a podcast episode with this lady who'd written a book all about social health.
Her argument, backed by a lot of science and common sense, being that our social health (being with other people) is at least as important as our physical and mental health. If not more so…
Very fair point methinketh.
Act 2 - Last night
The place:
The distinctly unpalatial residence where I lay my hat (aka my house)
So last night was a rough one.
In no particular order of grimness. Just a few of the lowlights were:
* My nearly 80 year old mum heading to hospital with chest problems. She has dementia, is very vulnerable and I had the joys of talking about sinister sounding ‘options’ for her care with a paramedic.
* One of my kids was very upset about an issue and saying some quite scary stuff about how she was feeling.
* Another one of them was freaking out about a party and her wardrobe choice (as a 50 year old bloke whose fashion sense begins and ends in the middle of Lidl you can imagine how well I performed with this one!)
All this happened around 11pm-12pm. Now I'm an in bed for 10, lights out, sweet dreams, kinda guy when I can be, so this was a bit much for a school night!
Then to bottom it all off, I spent a good bit of the night being woken and re-awoken by our new neighbour’s dog who seems to have been semi-abandoned at this point.
(Quick sleep tip. Get a sleep mask with blue tooth ear phones built in. Play the ‘green noise’ 6 hour special on Headspace. It's an oceany sound, but no pesky dolphins or random bloody wind chimes. Just waves whappin’ and slappin’. It helped me get some reasonable sleep in amongst this carnage).
Act 3 - This morning
The place:
My happy place (aka the beach).
As you may imagine my sleep deprived, strung out self was not 100% chipper as I awoke today.
I don't mind admitting (well I do actually as boys don't cry - just ask The Cure’s Robert Smith) that more than a few tears welled up as I listened to some rousing Classic FM tune, and thought about the sad bits of my life, whilst driving to the beach this morning.
Then I hit the beach.
Not literally obvs.
That would be extremely pointless.
And a bit odd.
Maybe even painful.
I digress...
So I said a quick hello to a few folks and then had a 5 minute cold water dunk.
The world felt better. Much better. As it always does in the sea. But even the yummy post dip chemicals didn't completely do the job. I still felt a chunk of sadness weighing at my heart.
Enter one of my fellow swimmers; a very sprightly octogenarian who never seems to have a bad day.
He's chipper and chirpy and always good fun.
Whilst getting changed near each other he began telling me proudly about his new bright yellow swim hat he recently got for his birthday.
Then how he was off later for a 6 mile bike road, boat trip and pub lunch, with his mates.
As the saying goes:
I'm not sure they make them like him anymore.
His enthusiasm and clear joy for life just made me giggle inside. Lifted my spirits unimaginably.
I didn't say anything much to him. Again to (mis) quote Robert Smith boys don't express emotion.
But l was just dead grateful for the interaction.
That one little chat for about 5 minutes set me on a much better trajectory for the day.
So a big thanks to him and everyone else I have the pleasure with chatting to on the beach every day.
It always means so much.
(Not that I'd ever admit it as boys also don't ever acknowledge feelings).
To beaches, good people, and feelings.
Happy Sunday
JFT Beach
Article I Wrote on Substack This Week:
DOG-FULLNESS™️ - How My Pooches Helped Me Find Calmness in Everyday Life - A dog’s ‘tail’ of mindfulness!
A Note I Shared on Substack This Week:
5 Health and Wellness Articles I Enjoyed on Substack This Week:
Revitalize with “Whiskey” Breath: Instantly Relax Your Mind and Body Like it or not this type of breathing won’t get you drunk, but it sure will relax. Simple to use and great for bedtime. Thanks
Binge Eating Made Me Want to Kill Myself The dangers of binge eating laid stark and bare by
- been on this road a lot myself and can SO relate; maybe you can too?Art of pausing This is a helpful deep dive into the benefit of pauses in life. I listened to a podcast about this recently and this article complements it nicely. Thanks
It’s All There Feeling in need of a mental boost or personal affirmation?
hits the spot in this short compelling piece.Would you rather be right or happy? Being happy Vs being right; an interesting piece for those with a tendency to be a "know it all" or those wanting to better understand the "know it all" in their life. Thanks
I hope you enjoyed today’s little compendium. If you did, please do me a favour and re-stack it, or add a comment below. I’d REALLY REALLY appreciate it.
To Lazy Sunday Afternoons,
JFT Beach
PS Thanks to the following for… well… following!
Yep this week the following lovely people have started following me on Substack thanks to all of you
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Please drop links to any new and interesting Substack articles you’ve read lately as I’m always looking for more to share on a Sunday.
Your podcast lady was definitely right, social interactions are so important. And yet, whenever I'm down or not entirely feeling it, the first thing I do is withdraw and stay home by myself. Good on your for going out and seeking out those social interactions!
JFT Beach, you have done it again. Your 3-Act Shakespearean mindfulness story is a brilliant example of the power of a simple energetic exchange between two people. You had a rough and tough night. And yes, *cold* salt-water can usually cure all woes, in the rare case like this one where there was a residue left, you prove that a simple energetic social interaction with a happy soul DOES cure all. Bless your octogenarian swimming friend. Energy is contagious...and he spilled his all over you in just 5-minutes! You needed that, and the world needs more people like him. Fortunately, every time he spills his glitter bombs everywhere, he is scattering that energy into others like you who explode those sparkles into people like me. I am not quite glitter-sparkled-happy! Thank you very much.