Mary Mary Quite Contrary

*Disclaimer* This is not about any of my dear friends who happen to be blessed with the name Mary! 

In every life a little contrarian must fall, I suppose. Lately, on Facebook, there have been a couple of folks who seem to believe it is their bounden duty to contradict posts whenever and where ever possible. This is not just on my own posts, but the posts of friends as well. Some of them are not friends of the person whose post I might comment on but choose to step in and hijack the post for their own agendas. I don't mind opposing viewpoints, but when it is a never ending campaign it gets wearying.  A change in Facebook settings may be in order. 

For the most part, I try not to post anything too controversial on my own wall. I don't like conflict and negative, contrary people are draining both in real life and on social media. As a retired counselor, I admit that I try to figure out what causes them to be so ornery. 

 A June 9th, 2016 article in Psychology Today states:

"While contrarians often see themselves as righteous defenders of truth, others may experience them as crotchety pot-stirrers." 

Bless their hearts. 

My grandmother used to say "It takes all kinds to make a world." But, I don't necessarily have to let them into MY world. A visit to the unfriend and/or block buttons may be in order.

Food, Glorious Food

As appetizing as this picture looks, if I should eat it, I would be in the Emergency Room within minutes. I am very allergic to the strawberries, cantaloupe, and the kiwi. Now, on this new FODMOP diet that I am on, the cherries and peaches are off limits.

As a child, I was the queen of the picky eaters. I could not bring myself to eat peas or beans. I was not big on fruit. I could not drink milk without getting queasy, and I never could quite get used to yogurt. I never really liked tuna, and thank goodness the smell of cooking shrimp discouraged me from ever trying it.  I was one to eat cornbread, meat, hard cheese, eggs, tomatoes, starchy vegetables, and peanut butter. 

Over the years, I tried to add the foods that I had not wanted to eat as a child, but they were never quite tolerated and some even caused almost disastrous results as my ER bills will attest.

Ironically, when I was tested for allergies, I came up allergic to most fruits and non-starchy veggies, ocean fish and shellfish, most peas and beans, and coffee. Long time reflux keeps me from citrus fruits and spicy things. 

Ironically, on this FODMOP diet, many of the things I am allergic to are off limits. Many of the things that I would not eat as a child are also on it. I have to wonder if my young self instinctively knew that these foods were not good for me.  Fortunately, I had parents who did not push me too hard to eat the things I did not want. 

My "child self"  was instinctively wise to what my body needed and did not need. As I go through this plan, I am going to try to recapture that instinct for what my body does and does not want and need. 

Wish me luck!

 

 

FM Radio

On my last vacation, instead of plugging in my iPhone with its customized playlists, I decided to listen to old fashioned FM radio.

It turned out to be a lot of fun. As one adult hit/Top 40 station faded out, I would scan to see if I could find another one. I almost always could. I found out that John Tesh really is everywhere with his 'Intelligence for Your Life.' 

Best of all, I heard some new (for me, at least) songs. Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You', Nathan Sykes 'Over and Over Again', Andy Grammer's 'Keep Your Head Up' (How did I miss THAT??), and 'Scars to Your Beautiful' by Alessia Cara. 

I am glad that I got out of my iTunes rut long enough to rediscover the fun of scanning for new stations and hearing different music. Of course, now that I have discovered it, I will be downloading it on iTunes! 

Here is a radio song for your morning. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdwsXLmrHE