Conquering Fear and Anxiety: I dreaded summer holidays

While most children looked forward to the summer holidays, I actually dreaded the two months I would actually spend at home.  As a child, summer was supposed to be a time of relaxation, away from school, and work, enjoying the long days with friends or family. This was a far cry from what I experienced.

My grandfather was a man who loved the land. An engineer by profession, after his retirement, you would find him in his fields tending to his crops.

Every week day at the crack of dawn, you could hear him at the step sides, near to the water tank, knocking out his boots, and whistling away, most times in tune with the birds that perched on my windowsill.

His wheel barrow in hand, loaded with machetes, hoes, forks, shovels, fertilizer and everything else he would need on the farm, he was off at 6:00 am every morning. He spent most of his waking hours on the farm, and during the summer holidays, we also had to join him.

We were up as the cock crowed, and after having breakfast, which my grandmother awoke and prepared, we had to do our chores around the yard. I spread the beds, swept the house, swept the yard, and gathered water for the kitchen. I enjoyed doing this and before the sun finished its ascension, I was done.

By that time, I had to feed the chickens and let them out of their pen for them to scratch around the yard. I didn’t particularly like this part, as on too many occasions the roosters flew into my face, and one eventually spurred me on my hand, leaving a very long scar that is very visible on my skin to this day.  In the evening, I had to round them up, and ensured that everyone of them was safely locked away.

With one of my grandmother’s straw hats on my head, my cousins and I made our way to whichever location on the farm my grandfather was.  Each day he had specific things that he wanted us to complete, and we half-heartedly went about each task, really longing to escape from the pelting heat of the sun.

He dug the holes, and we dropped the peas and the corns in them, and he would cover them up; we dropped the potato leaves on top of the mounds and he would bury them into the soil. He dug the yam hills and we would help him to carry the yam heads and plant the yam sticks.

When it was time to reap, we gathered the peas, and corn and opened them out. Those that were to be dried, we laid them on zincs in the yard each day, and at evening time, we re-packed them into crocus bags.

We picked coffee beans, and reaped and peeled cassava for baking. We even made coffee and cocoa, and helped to make bammy. It was quite a learning experience, and while I was grateful for the knowledge; as while we worked, he told us everything he thought we needed to know about farming; it was tiring! He was quite a story teller, and had lots to share about his childhood years, while growing up and as an adult.

I think he wanted us to feel more relaxed while we worked, and impart whatever knowledge he could to us. He was teaching us many important life lessons but as children we did not understand. However, as we got older we realized that summer holiday was really just for children, and working hard to achieve our goals was really the order of the day in the real world.

There was food apenlty, a very long list of vegetables, ground provisions, fruits and farm animals. Whenever we reaped any food items from the farm or any of the animals went to neverland; we were sent with bags around the community to deliver them to our neighbours.

Although we were happy to give to our neighbours, and actually got the opportunity to go on the road; after a long day on the farm, and then walking throughout the community we were exhausted.

There was no time for leisure after that; tired and exasperated we ate our dinner and got ready for bed. By the time our heads hit the pillow; it was lights out for us. This went on for the entire summer holiday. When we returned to school, while we listened to our friends talking about the trips they had, or the family they went to visit; there was not much that we had to say. Our reality was very different from theirs!

We were not ashamed of our farm…far from it! We were never hungry and stayed out of a lot of trouble our friends got into. But we had nothing new to share! We were literally tired when we went back to school, and at least for the first week, we tried to get our bearings back, and fought back the sleep while in class…

HOW DOES STRESS CAUSE ANXIETY?

DON’T SKIP MEALS

If anxiety causes nausea, the thought of eating food is as appealing as eating dirt. But skipping meals can make anxiety worse.

Your blood sugar drops when you do not eat, which causes the release of a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol can help you perform better under pressure, but it can also make you feel worse if you are already prone to anxiety.

The fact that you need to eat doesn’t justify stuffing just anything in your mouth, so this isn’t an excuse to overindulge in sugar and junk food. Sugar doesn’t cause anxiety, but a sugar rush can cause physical symptoms of anxiety, such as nervousness and shaking. And if you begin to obsess over a reaction to sugar, you could have an out-all panic attack.

Incorporate more lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats into your diet. Eat five to six small meals throughout the day, and avoid or limit your intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates. (SOURCE: www. helpguide.org; http://www.healthline.com; http://www.adaa.org; www.headsup.org.au, www. stress.org, www.cambridge-credit.org , www.thebalance.com, www.healthline.com)

Keisha A. Hill is media practitioner and communications consultant. Send feedback to kanhillcommunications@gmail.com or editorial@oldharbournews.com. Visit Jamaican Chronicles to read more blogs by the author.