I came across this article about rituals and it made me think of a time I actually started a ritual by default and truly felt the benefits of it. It all started with an infected toenail… and for those of you who know me, this is a very difficult issue for me to write about. I have some sort of severe foot phobia. I can’t talk about, look at, think of and certainly can’t touch feet. I can’t let one of my feet touch the other and no one can touch or look at my feet. Not rational, I know, but that’s how it is…. Anyway, this is not the point of the story.
In order to treat my infected toenail, I was forced to spend approximately 15 minutes alone with my toe each day bathing and medicating it. At first the thought horrified me, I couldn’t really even talk about it to my husband, I just told him that each night I would disappear for 15 minutes and could he please not ask me any questions – I didn’t want to be cornered into a foot conversation – ugh.
So off I went, every night, usually in the period between the feeding frenzy we call ‘dinner’ and the final desperate mission of the day ‘bedtime’ all of which is usually a whirlwind of screaming, threatening and hysteria between sips of chardonnay and praying to make it through to the end.
The toe treatment went on for four weeks or so, and I can’t tell you how fabulous those 15 minutes of solace were in the middle of that craziness. I came to terms with having to deal with my toe – I even appreciated the toe – because it gave me the chance to walk away and regroup. Post toe-medicating session, I was a new mum, totally equipped to deal with the tantrum over the Dora the Explorer pyjamas being in the wash and every other pair of pj’s being totally unacceptable to my 4-year-old. I was calm, rational and in control.
So there you go, have yourself a read of this article about rituals. To me, it makes sense. Identify the high-stress times in your day and pop in a little ritual to calm you down. It doesn’t have to have anything to do with your feet – and please don’t talk to me about it if it does.
lifehacker.com/how-your-personal-rituals-impact-your-health
Lee Hilton
