By Reena A Jadhav
It's November 21st and I'm up at 6:30 am. I can hear hubby on a cheerful work call, apparently from my daughter's new snowy white couch brought in last night as part of her room redecoration project. She will be a high schooler in a few months and the fluffy pink middle school theme just won't do.
I am so grateful to be alive to redo her room, to giggle over drapes and candles. I get to see her go to High School. Just a year and a half ago, I was convinced I wouldn't be around for that.
Thank you for giving me some more time to enjoy the beautiful moments this life offers us daily.
I'm starving by 7 am. Sigh, my new microbiome constantly craves real meals and digests everything fast. I head down to the kitchen, blurry eyed as yesterday was a marathon between my various projects. I cook up lentil kale soup with quinoa for breakfast... I really am starving for real food...
I sit down with my nourishing bowl, soft "happy music" playlist streaming from Alexa, not a single worry about food reactions. I couldn't have eaten this meal a year and a half ago. My 28 symptoms were unpredictable and every bite was like a landmine expedition. Thank you for this moment of enjoying real food with no reactions. For the ability to eat without wondering whether I will have stomach cramps or rashes.
Thank you for giving me back the pure joy of eating anything at any time.
Stomach fed, soul recharged, I get busy roasting sweet potatoes for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner that we host each year for our family of about 35. This year is special; my cousin is visiting with his beautiful fiance from New York. There will be more chatter and the patter of little feet, as all the little ones will be over. There will be some side eyed judging, some childlike petulance, some over drinking and definitely lots of singing and dancing.
Thank you for a loving extended family to host, to hug, and to hang with.
A few hours later the sweet potatoes are crispy, juicy and oh so delicious with a blend of cinnamon, cloves, honey, and apple cider vinegar. I send a picture to my 19-year-old as she's in her Uber on the way to the Chicago airport to fly home today. "My baby's coming home," my heart sings. Not everyone's baby is coming home this Thanksgiving. There has been a rash of shootings, kidnappings, and deaths in Chicago. Then there is the entire town of Paradise where no one has a home anymore due to California fires.
Thank you for keeping her and us safe through the crazy and constant violence around us. Thank you for allowing us to still have a home today.
I have to try some of the orange gooeyness...I grab a spoon and moan at the delicious juiciness of cinnamon and clove spiced, brown sugared, and buttered sweet potatoes. Heck with portion control, I grab a bowl and head over to my swinging chair to take a moment to reflect on the gifts I need to pack for the karaoke winners, and yes everyone will be a winner!
My thoughts flit to my husband, my parents, my children, my cousins and nephews, and nieces...all part of the pattern of the quilt of my life. All bringing "life" into my "life" with the laughter, the tears, the disagreements, the hugs ...the love.
"Are you joining?" I get a text reminding me I have a startup coaching call. Its a great company with passionate founders pursuing a strong business model. As we end the call, he thanks me for my insights. I smile, content at having contributed in a small way. Yes, bringing joy to others is the quickest way of bringing joy into your own life, says a lot of scientific research. Not everyone ends up in professions where they can feel like they have contributed to others in a meaningful way.
Thank you for the opportunity to be of value to someone else.
It's time for the last call with Bev, who is taking our
Heal Your Gut Bootcamp with Dr. Grasser. She was kind enough to agree to record her day by day experience.
We hop on the call and hit record. She starts by sharing how this is the first time she has not had gas after eating in years. Her entire recording is available on
Healthbootcamps.com/blog I then ask her about my book cover feedback and she loves the
name #MAD and begins sharing how she got so mad when her doctor couldn't help her with her gas and bloating and instead recommended anti-depressants. We hit record again! We are starting
#MAD as a movement for everyone to share how they couldn't get the help they wanted but how they healed themselves anyway.
It's a movement of hope to help those who are still trying to figure out what's causing their health issues and how to reverse them.As we end the session, I'm grateful that I can do this.
Thank you for the resources I have access to and for a supportive husband and family who make it possible for me to do this.
I hop on Mailchimp to send out today's newsletter. And I smile. We added another 42 subscribers, yay!
Thank YOU for being part of the HealthBootcamps and HealCircle tribe.
Without you, I would just be talking very loudly to myself 🙂
You're my family and I love you very much!
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