Click here Cycling in Rain

I have read this a few times. Watched one nice animation about being happy. Saw our learnt of some people who lived long and relatively healthy. It does seem true. If one is happy, all the time . . . . he/she tends to be healthy and longevity is high. If you notice, that could be part of the reason that people few generations ago lived long and healthy (although average life expectancy was low during those periods due to inadequate medical facilities and several child birth deaths for moms and babies). I for myself, realized that last few months I started feeling healthy. And I related this to being happy last few months, thanks to a change in my project at office, change of stars and developing a philosophical attitude, in addition to actively working on some new found hobbies.

But Alas! My recent medical check up has proved me wrong. My blood sugar levels have gone up. Cholesterol which had never been an issue, is high. Why? Despite being slightly diabetic, I have not exercised enough caution ⚠. During last few months, I had more sweets for one reason or the other. I ‘assumed’ I was healthy. I went all out on desserts🍧 during five star hotel dinners. And there were many in last few months. I have reduced frequency of cycling to go to office. Had only two meals a day with long gaps; something that is not recommended for diabetics.

And now, I appreciate these. But also still believe, being happy is at least one big key to being healthy.. And honestly, I am a person who had always been concerned of health during old age, every since even when I was a young kid. To the point, I was scared 😓 of getting old. I realized, getting old is the synonym for ill health.

The big question is, how do I force myself into being happy? It’s hard. I mean really hard.

I always liked hair on my head. I used to sport all kinds of hair styles when I was a kid, even before I was in my tenth standard. I event hippy despite my school principal being after me to cut my long hair!! And long since, I never had good hair. Now to the extent of shaving off my head daily. How sad 😢.

I was hugely find fond of bananas. I used to finish off a while dozen all by myself when I was young. And I am nearly barred from eating bananas due to my diabetic situation. Bananas have high calories and digest easily, so. How sad 😢.

I had always liked breads a lot. Really a LOT. I would eat one large bread packet family size all myself, raw, as I see my mom sleeping in afternoon when I would return from college. I enjoyed all kinds of bread 🍞 when I was in the US for seven years. Something that I honestly enjoyed being in a western country. I would dig out and eat all kinds of bread. Not sure how many of you are aware, there is a soup in bread bowl concept that I was a fan of. A medium sized spherical bread ball is scooped out in the inside and filled with piping hot soup. One would drink the soup and then eat the bread bowl that is soaked in soup. I like breads so much that when someone insisted that he got something for me from the the U.S., I said if he could, I would be very happy if he gets me Panera brand bread!! But I realized long ago, breads have got among the highest capacity to increase blood sugars instantly. It is almost equivalent to sugar. So it is barred for me. So I restrict myself a lot on eating bread. How sad 😢.

I like potatoes and other root vegetables, dry fried (not oil deep fried). And now root vegetables are banned for me. I like dry fruits. Can go on having a handful of cashew instead of a meal or snack and be happy. They give same amount of calories with the small quantity I eat. And they help keep my blood sugars low. So had been trying this last few weeks with a changed diet program by having small meals under 200 calories per meal, eight to nine times a day, including main dinner, lunch and breakfast. So I would have a calculated bunch of dry fruits, cashew or peanuts once or twice a day for one of those meals. And now my lab tests confirm, I have high cholesterol, a problem that never existed before. So one more item gone! How sad 😢.

Being a typical South Indian, I love rice. And all the freshly home made very spicy, very hot home chutneys ate my favourite. I hate having roties for a dinner unless it is occasional. And with the diet control, I need to sacrifice rice to roties, even if I anyway eat brown rice already switched over from white rice a decade ago. How sad 😢.

And now my loving 😍 usually very healthy, emotionally strong and intelligent wife, we realized through a casual lab test, has some health issue. I am sure this will get controlled after sometime. But for now, I cancelled my month long planned and well prepared long motorbike ride of 1500 kms, although that’s much less of a problem than me and her resolving her health issue. How sad 😢.

For some reason, I tend to have lot of work in my job. This was so ever since even when I was an articled clerk during my CA days. Work does seem to consume me much so compared to my colleagues doing similar job.

And if are wondering what this has got to do with the media I posted in this blog, it is that I wanted to give myself some exercise and went out to bicycle 🚲. Less than half way through, it rained a lot. So much so that after a while a quit waiting under the tree 🎄 which was soaking me anyway. So here I am riding in rain as cars go splashing dirty muddy rain water on me and my expensive $200 biking shoes that I can’t afford to buy a second time in life again. Does it seem like fun riding under the rain in those muddy pools? And when it was one for water underneath my cycle, cars in front of me decide to stop, not worried I need to put my foot 👣 in the waters soaking my shoes and risking a fall. God, how do I keep myself happy?

I know being happy 😊, is secret to good health and longevity. But it’s HARD 😓.