ON TRACK

Take heed of reminders and don’t forget to smell the roses. JUDY RAFFERTY suggests how we can ‘seize the day’.

In January, I went to the funeral of a beautiful friend. She had retired quite recently. After 40 years of work, she was looking forward to the retirement she deserved. One with possibilities and freedoms. But there was an unsuspected cancer quietly attacking her vital organs. She lived for eight months after she retired.

I wonder if you are like me. When I lose a friend or go to a funeral I decide, yet again, to be better at how I am living my life. To live for today. To live each day to the fullest. To be fully in the present. To feel gratitude for all that I have. To slow down and appreciate. But how do we make these wonderful intentions a real part of our own lives? I think there is a pathway. I like to think that we can move from resolution (what I am going to do) to solution (how I am going to do it) to evolution (who I become).

Simple is always best. Write down the resolution. Find your own solution to ensure it happens. Keep a firm picture in mind of your own evolution. Terry, an old friend from primary school days, is an inveterate planner, always organising and being prepared. He was like that even in grade 3. After a chat over coffee Terry decided to learn to be in the present more fully (resolution). He committed to stopping and sitting on his back deck in order to silently watch and notice his surroundings for a few minutes anytime he turned on the tap in the kitchen (solution). His picture of his evolution was that he would become someone who noticed and his surroundings and enjoyed the small and daily changes around him. He told me that it worked even though he made a list and ticked off every time he successfully stopped as per his plan. Whatever works!

Retirement, like other stages of our lives, is a phase that is best approached with awareness and conscious choice.

Many people tell me that they are busier in retirement than they have ever been. This can be a positive when the activity is undertaken with purpose and meaning but less enriching when it is simply busyness. There is always the danger of missing your own life while you tick off the things on your to do list.

Retirement seems to be the perfect opportunity to get on the path of resolution to evolution and to put into practice the life enhancing attitudes and approaches of living for today, living each day to the fullest, being fully in the present, slowing down, feeling gratitude and appreciation. As the Roman poet suggested seize the day….carpe diem!

Judy Rafferty is the author of Retirement Your Way, A Practical Guide to Knowing What You Want and How to Get It, at all good bookshops and online. If your liver is not in good shape, it will show on your skin. Signs can reveal inflammation, fatty liver and even cirrhosis of your liver.

The main lobe of your liver is located on the right-hand side of your body just behind your chest cavity. It is very sturdy and regenerates itself every night between 1 am - 3 am. Hence, you may wake at that time most nights because it is trying hard to cleanse and restore itself.

Before you see any indications in your liver enzyme blood tests, you may be able to identify any potential problems beforehand. Not just by the fatigue you may be feeling but by the change in your skin.

If your skin has a yellow tinge, it can be due to your red blood cells breaking down and releasing certain compounds which backup into your skin. If it is severe, it can even turn the skin slightly brownish. Usually, yellow skin or yellow eyes is an indication that there is a backup happening in the liver. Possibly even the gall bladder bile ducts are also backing up.

Another sign is if you have very red or itchy palms, or the bottom of your feet are itchy.

Suppose your nose is red or swollen, which is typical amongst alcoholics. Red cheeks, or rosacea, indicate that you may have an alteration in your gut microbiome or liver. Still, it can typically be a combination of a liver problem and a lack of friendly bacteria.

Loss of hair under your armpits and for males, it can also be on the lower legs. It can be a sign that you have a damaged liver with an excess of oestrogen in your body because you don’t have that buffer to regulate your excess oestrogen. Then as your oestrogen increases, you start losing the hair, and your skin can be very soft and even shiny. As males age, you may notice that they don’t have a lot of hair on their lower legs and can appear “polished”. Excess oestrogen builds up because it doesn’t have the action of a fully functioning liver to process the oestrogen.

Spider veins, specifically tiny red dots with little veins extending out of them, are also signs of excess oestrogen from liver damage. They usually appear on your abdomen, face, and thighs.

Suppose you have little white spots or growths around your eyelids - you may have high cholesterol, insulin resistance and eating way too many carbohydrates (sugars). When this happens, you have too much cholesterol, backing up in your skin tissue and depositing around your eyes. A simple remedy would be eating a very low carbohydrate diet, practising intermittent fasting, and taking purified bile salts.

Little red or purple flat bumps on your skin, usually seen on your lower extremities or throughout your body, indicate a liver problem and excess oestrogen. Ascites is a fluid-filled sack in your belly, making you appear pregnant with stick-thin arms or legs, can be caused by liver cirrhosis.

You can eat foods to improve the liver.. The best one is radish it has properties to reverse fatty liver. They can trigger certain enzymes to affect Phases 1 and 2 of your liver detoxification processes, eliminate poisons and even stimulate the bile production in your gall bladder. Anything bitter is perfect for the liver. Blending the whole lemon with a little stevia and water is great for a fatty liver. As is Apple Cider Vinegar, which supports your blood sugars and makes insulin more sensitive. Trudy Kither is a naturopath and owner of Nature’s Temple. Visit naturestemple.net

Radich can trigger certain enzymes to support liver detoxification.

Imagine waking up to this ocean view everyday.

p Own a secure retirement lifestyle at Victoria Towers Over 50s Luxury Freehold Apartments.