Longevity Water

• ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’ Queen Elizabeth 2^nd

• ‘It’s not important how long you’re here for it’s the impact and ripple effect you have on generations to come that matters’ -R Cummings

Long Live the Queen

This past week has been a week that will have more than likely affected the whole nation arguably the world.  On Thursday 8^th September 2022 we were given the sad news that our beloved Queen had passed away at Balmoral Castle surrounded by those she loved. Even typing this now (at 3.46am) I have a tear in my eye. Whatever your opinion on the Monarchy or Royal Family you cannot argue that this woman was a remarkable woman who lived her life serving her country and others. She was an inspiration to us all one that will certainly go down in history and I myself feel privileged to live in a time when she reigned as Queen.

See I think what has shaken the nation so much is that we thought she would live forever. We took it for granted like we probably do our own families that they would be around forever. Unfortunately, this is not the case as humans we are not immortal, we do not live forever. From the moment we are born we are living but also dying at the same time. Our life in this world is very short and it’s times like this we should use to tell/show the people we love just that, that we do love them. It’s great to see so many people doing that showing their respects to the Queen in many different ways travelling miles to lay flowers and queuing for hours just to walk past her coffin.  And to her family and our new King Charles 3^rd (still seems strange saying that) in what must be an extremely difficult time serving the nation in such a public way whilst grieving for their own mother, grandmother at the same time (I think she would be extremely proud).

Family History

Family history is so important in understanding who we are, where we came from and can potentially help us in the future (i.e., medical conditions). I can understand why so many people are interested in genealogy trying to find out where they came from. It’s only recently I’m ashamed to say that I found out my dad actually lived in a small Welsh village Llangernyw near Conwy and that some of my ancestors are actually buried in the grounds of Saint Digain’s Church. Which is also thought to have one of the oldest Yew Trees in history thought to be around 4,000-5,000 years old. Now me as a QS/Commercial Manager I’m thinking that a big margin of error but I suppose no one can argue the fact (because their unlikely to be around) either way it’s pretty old and has been designated one of fifty great British Trees.

Yew trees are associated both with death and immortality and I find it quite surreal that there happens to be one located in my families ‘back yard’ so to speak. Not only that it’s pretty amazing to look at and to think that this tree has been around for so many years and will more than likely be around for many more.

Longevity Water

It’s here in this village that my dad visited the church back in 2017 from my original Stage 4 Melanoma diagnosis. Has he been there before most likely I’m not actually quite sure I will have to ask, see that’s the key to finding out more about your family history is you need to actually ask, both my parents are of the generation that they just ‘cracked’ on so to speak and whether it’s because they didn’t talk much or as a teenager growing up I was more interested in going out and having fun than finding out about where I came from (not the bees and the birds) or a mixture of both. It’s only now in recent years that I’ve found out things about my family I didn’t know. So, a word of advice if you want to know more about your family just ask preferably with a nice brew in hand.

Not only did my dad go and visit the village he got a bottle of water from the well in the town and also wrote in the church book and no doubt prayed a little. This bottle of water has been in my fridge (correction has now been demoted to cupboard due to lack of fridge space) since 2017! Now when he first brought it, I did take a sip and would wash my hands and face with it before important scans. He has since been back in 2022 and brought more and safely labelled it ‘DO NOT DRINK’. I think this is sound advice for fear of;

1. Drinking it and potentially having some parasite grow inside me (although this could have potential weight loss which might not necessarily be a bad thing – I am joking obviously)
2. Pouring on my face and potentially causing damage to my eyes and going blind (I think I watched a holiday programme once and this poor guy had washed his face and ended up with a massive parasite growing in his eyeball and having to have it removed)

I do however pour and wash my hands with it before all scans, appointments, operations. It’s a bit like a ritual I suppose along with certain things I may take with me to calm me down. I think I have mentioned this before in my previous blogs where if standing on one leg and hopping whilst sniffing a badger’s arse calms you down then do it who am I or anyone else to judge.

So, if anyone from UU is reading this, please could you advise me if this is safe to do so.  If it is safe, I might start bottling this water up a bit like Del Boy with Peckham Springs maybe I’ll call it Llangernyw Longevity Springs ‘The tears of the yew tree’ I think that has a good ring to it, don’t you think?

Visiting Llangernyw

I can’t remember when but we did go and visit the village and it was really lovely. I definitely recommend a trip to the toilet while you’re there this has got to be one of the nicest well-kept loos, I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, in fact don’t visit the loo’s they need to remain well-kept. It’s only that way because the people of the village take pride in it. There’s really not much there just one pub, one school and a shop. At the time we visited there was a hen party going on they were probably catching the bus going to live it large in Conwy.

The church which stands next to the yew tree is also nice I looked in the visiting book and saw what my dad had wrote some years prior. I’m not sure if it works but I will certainly keep using the water and having a bit of faith along with good old determination to get me through this once again.

Finding your Ikigai  

I recently read a really good book Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. Ikigai is Japanese and means to live a long and purposeful life. Something which I think we would all love to do much like our beloved Queen Elizabeth 2^nd.

In this book they looked at villages which had the largest population of supercentenarians (those who live beyond 100 years old).  There is a village in Okinawa, Japan which holds the largest population of these supercentenarians or you could say superheroes. It’s somewhere given half the chance I would love to visit being I’ve always had an affinity for cherry blossoms, bonsai trees, buddhas’, martial arts, Japanese gardens, generally the food and culture and what I envisage as peace and tranquillity. Whether I will ever have that opportunity remains to be seen. So, for now I’ll settle on the cherry blossom planted in my front garden, the buddha statue I have at the back of the garden, martial arts movies, meditating and Wagamama’s as a close second.   

One of the village people (not the band) Walter Breuning at the tender age of 114!!! Was quoted as saying;

‘If you keep your mind and body busy, you’ll live a long time’. Food for thought for us, I think.

From doing these interviews the writers Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles created ten rules of Ikigai ;

1. Stay active don’t retire – this means work but not necessarily your profession. It could be attending your garden, helping the community
2. Take it slow – by that I think they mean enjoy the moment less rushing about
3. Don’t fill your stomach – 80/20 rule
4. Surround yourself with good friends – laughter is the best medicine, socialise and surround yourself with people who lift you up
5. Get in shape for your next birthday – something to work towards maybe?
6. Smile – I always smile and say hello (not necessarily when down South though as on the tube this could appear to be over friendly)
7. Reconnect with nature – go hug a tree maybe, preferably when no-one is watching
8. Give thanks – gratitude I try to write at the end of an evening or more realistically in the middle of the night the things that were good about the day.
9. Live in the moment
10. Follow you ikigai – your passion and purpose

For me I try to do each of these every day or work towards each one, not every day I tick each one but that’s ok. I am also trying to define my purpose and passion in life which I feel more than ever is

1. To live and beat this sh1tty disease and remain cancer free forever.
2. To be the best wife, mother to my kids and daughter I can possibly be.
3. To helping others through my writing and generally trying to be a goodish person (I’ll aim for 80/20 rule maybe 50/50 for a start).

I hope you all find your purpose and passions in life something that you can feel deep down in your stomach then you’ll know you’re on the right path.

Lessons Learned

• Don’t drink bottled water that’s 5 years old and has been sitting in the back of your cupboard
• Don’t wait to tell someone how much you care about them
• Find your passion and purpose in life
• If you really want to understand who you are and where you came from speak to family not only will it give you and understanding of who they are but might bring you closer together