Once upon a time, before our world went into its current chaos, I was a very fit and healthy person. I had been doing all sorts of martial arts, dance and fitness training for most of my adult life and I was studying to become a personal trainer and nutritional advisor.

So when, one night, I found that I could barely make it up the stairs to bed, I knew that there had to be something seriously wrong. I was struggling to do a lot of the everyday things that I normally for granted and I could no longer make it through to the end of my martial arts classes and eventually had to give that up all together. A basic gym session felt like climbing a mountain and I constantly felt exhausted no matter how much I rested. On top of all this, my brain was foggy, and I found that my body was no longer working properly, and I was becoming intolerant to a growing range of normal foods.

‘Lead-Legs’

As time went on, I found that I would have days of what I would call ‘lead-legs’ – when the muscles in my legs wouldn’t work and my legs felt so heavy that normal walking was limited. I later realised that is was because my mitochondria were no longer working properly and I had lost a lot of my ability to recycle ATP (the fuel that drives our muscles and movement) but more of that in later posts.

After many visits to the doctor and various blood tests, it became clear that the doctors really had no answers for what my condition was, why I had it or what could be done to cure it. The only abnormal result on the blood tests was system inflammation, and I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

At that point in time (and even now) the medical profession had no remedy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so I was basically left adrift with no hope, which was a scary thing.

However, I was determined to get well and, as someone who loves to do research, I set about researching the hell out of this condition and eventually cured myself, with the help of some skillful natural practitioners along the way.

So, what had happened to reduce me, a fit, health-conscious person to an invalid with a disabled persons blue badge? Was it some terrible disease, an infection, a toxic microbe – no, it was just life.

4 Years of Life Crises

In the 4 years leading up to my illness I had been going through a non-stop series of life crises. I wasn’t in a war zone, a major world disaster or in a terrible accident, it was just the accumulation of the sort of general life stresses that many of us go through all the time in today’s world.

For me it included the break-up of a 20 year relationship, moving home to new places several times, fighting to keep the business that supported me, financial loss and fear, being let down by a new partner, family crises and on and on. I say that it felt like being in the sea and being knocked down by another wave just as you are getting up from being knocked down by the first one.

Strangely though, throughout all to this my health stayed intact and it wasn’t until the crises stopped that my I finally keeled over. Later I learned that this was because of Adrenal Fatigue but we’ll look at this more in detail as we go on through this blog. Adrenal fatigue is an epidemic in modern times and you may well be suffering with this yourself but your doctor probably won’t recognise it.

Of course, much of what happened to me happens to other people too, maybe not all at once, but these are common stresses in modern life. Obviously, humans have gone through relationship problems, moving home and worrying about having enough to survive since the beginning of time, but these days we experience them thick and fast. Many people live life on fast forward now.

When Life was Easy, Safe and Secure

And the rate of change in our world is getting faster. Just think about the incredible changes that have happened in the past 60 years which is in the living memory of many people alive today. Sixty years ago, which would take us back to only the 1960’s there were no home computers, mobile phones, the internet, most people still had black and white TVs, many women didn’t have to work, most couples could afford a house, people retired with no mortgage and a comfortable pension, and young people knew that they would easily get a job when they left college. There was no such thing as global warming and terrorist attacks and only 1 in 33 people could expect to get cancer (today, shockingly, it is 1 in 2).  It sounds almost idyllic now, doesn’t it? But now most of the population under the age of 40 will have no experience of a life that was that easy, safe and secure.

Add to this the fact that our physical health is now challenged by fast food, sedentary lifestyles, harmful electromagnetic fields, overuse of medicinal drugs, lack of sleep and it’s a wonder that we are all still standing!

On top of this there are the pressures of social media, advertising, constant negative news, the rise of narcissism and the powers-that-be spreading inaccurate information about our future so no wonder we struggle to stay sane and feel safe too.

Humanity is not Thriving in this Glittery Modern World

Of course, there are many good things that have come out of the progress that we have made in the past few decades so we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water! However, the bottom line is, humanity is not thriving in this glittery modern world.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. One thing that I have learned in my many years of research on these subjects is that human beings are incredibly creative and can always find a solution to any problem. I feel really confident that the human race will develop, and in many cases is already developing, clever ways to help us all find balance and well-being in this current chaotic world and forward into the future.

Also, we need to bear in mind that this chaotic time has been predicted by many cultures around the world and part of their predictions is that we do pass through this in it to better times. So relax, we are heading for something better, but first we need to get through this turbulent transition.

We are Still Hunter Gatherers

Part of the challenge is that the world we live in has evolved dramatically in the past century, in fact probably more than the rest of history altogether. Unfortunately, we as a human mammal, are pretty much the same as we were when we were hunter gatherers on the plain. Our biology and our psychology are not really that much different, but we are subjecting ourselves to environments that we are not equipped to deal with, and we haven’t had time to adapt to yet.

For example, not so long ago, most human beings would spend virtually all day outside in natural light. Today, especially in the winter, we are lucky if we see daylight at all in the week – we go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. But human beings are walking solar panels and need sunlight to power themselves and the body’s cellular processes. Our health suffers in all sort of ways if we don’t get our photons. But if we are aware of this, we can build more daylight in to our days whether that is naturally or using new technologies that can simulate it for us. Remember, there’s always a way but, to be futureproof, we need to understand what is affecting us and learn how we can remedy it.

In a way, my years with Chronic Fatigue and the research I had to do to get well, were a fast track course in how the 21^st century is affecting our well-being and how it is possible to find ways to adapt to this new environment and thrive in it.

And, of course, it’s not all going to stop here, who knows what changes the near future will bring. My research is showing that there are some developments out there that will make Star Trek look like the norm, which is really exciting, but we will need to learn how to futureproof ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically so that we can enjoy it all rather than be overwhelmed by it.

There are Solutions Here Already

Don’t worry, there are solutions here already and I know that more will emerge as we go forward but we do need to educate ourselves so that we and our children are equipped to become futureproof. It is my hope that his blog (and the book that I am writing for autumn 2020) will give you the tools you need and hopefully, encourage you to feel positive about what is to come.  Your wellness and your happiness is then in your OWN hands and you will stay healthy, sane and safe no matter what.

Photo: Josh Reimer on Unsplash