Do you often wake up with stiff neck and shoulder, lower back pain, numbed arm and/or legs? Lately, I have a few such episodes of discomfort. It prompts me to do some research and revisit my sleeping and sitting postures. I thought I share my findings with you.
It appears that most of us (at least me) are not using the pillow properly. I thought the pillow was mainly to support my head; but in reality, it should be supporting my neck! Also, to ensure my lower back gets proper rest, I am suppose to have a small pillow under my knees. Wow, I had no idea! I guess I really have been ignoring and not give proper support in maintaining the natural curvatures on my neck and my lower spine. I’m really feeling it now.
Below are some links with pictures in it that I found that might give you a better sense of what I am talking about.
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/0300/0359.asp?index=4485
http://www.riverside-online.com/health_reference/Brain-Spine-Stroke/LB00003_D.cfm
http://www.pthands-on.com/posture.html
Well, I am no doctor or anything; this is purely base on my own experience that I like to share with you. So, take it for whatever it is worth and definitely check with your doctor first.
Even though supposedly I lived in the “warmer” side of the country –California, I always dread the winter season because it seems that every season for one reason or another, I bound to get the cold or the flu of the season (last year, I decided to start taking flu shot, but this year they ran out in my area) . The problem is while most people can seem to get over their cold or flu in a week or so, my symptoms would last at least 3 weeks to over 1 month! I felt miserable the whole time.
In the past few years, I’ve been told that taking vitamin-C will really help. So, I started my extra vitamin-C in the winter season; it helps, but on the occasion that I sill get the cold or flu, continue taking vitamin-C seems to have minimum effect in helping me shorten the cold or flu’s duration.
This year, I got a tip from a friend telling me that actually zinc is most needed and it will really help; so I decided to give it a try. This time, I take both vitamin-C and Zinc. Surprisingly, yes, I did feel much better and I got over my cold and flu much faster! (Yes, unfortunately, I got both the flu and the cold this year L). It’s worth pointing out that I didn’t take any over the counter medicine at all; just vitamin c and Zinc! I got over my last cold in less than a week! Wow, this has never happen to me before; that why I recommend you to give zinc a shot. By the way, I took the time to read more upon zinc on the internet. The consensus is that when we have a cold, our zinc level seems to get depleted quicker. Since zinc is really necessary to boost your immune system, taking zinc supplement is definitely recommended. However, we do have to be careful on not having too much zinc in our body. So, my strategy is taking 1 tablet a day only while I am sick, but never while I am health. So far so good…
As I was driving home, it dawns on me all of the sudden the magnitude of what a marriage vow is all about! I got that marriage vow is really an ultimate expression to the other person promising that they can count on you for the rest of your life. Yet looking at the reality, listening to my friends’ complaining about the little things that their husband repeatedly promised and didn’t do and my own frustration of dealing with incidents of broken promises but fill with justifications with my boyfriend, I can see how a otherwise great marriage or a great relationship can and do deteriorate overtime right in front of our eyes by these appearing inconsequential and innocent broken promises! Each broken promises no matter how small it appears done repeatedly, just reinforce the message that “Na, I’m kidding, you can’t really count on me, you shouldn’t count on me and how dare of you counting on me!”.
The worst part is talking to couples years later, they often speaking of falling out of love with such confusion and mystery. Yet, I see no mystery anymore. When one person finally decided they can’t and won’t count on the other person to do what they say they are going to do ever again and start seeking other solutions, over time, the connection is broken and when couples continues to ignores it and not working to restore the integrity behind each words said, the game will be over.
Yes, when a promise is broken in a marriage or your relationship, you often expect the other to “understand”; you get upset with your better half for not being a considerate partner. Yet, the funny thing is that the same you would not dare to repeatedly breaking your promises at work; the consequence for doing that at work is clear; if you break your promises at work to someone important in the company often enough, you are guarantee to be out of work soon. However, most people often fail to realize that keeping a marriage or a great relationship is no different than keeping your job! If you fail to keep your promises and do what you said you will do often enough, you lose your credibility, your trustworthiness the same way; you may not lose your marriage or your relationship, but you are guarantee to have a rocky marriage or relationship that fill with irritation, distrust, argument and coldness. So, if your marriage or your relationship is really as important to you as your work, why is it OK for you to not be as diligent with you words in your relationship as you do at your work? Think about it, Women maybe from Venus and Men maybe from Mars, but the basis for a great relationship is really no rocket science!
