Life isn't about surviving the storm; but how you dance in the rain.

The testing is over, for now. The answers, are none. The upper GI showed no signs of Crohn's (huge sigh of relief). But honestly, where do I go from here? And what is causing me to swell and inconstantly be in pain? Most days I say nothing, because who really wants to hear my complaints every day. But if I'm being straight up, I hurt every day. I can't remember a day where I felt great.

So is it food allergies?

Is it bum ovaries?

Is it IBS?

I've spent that last 2 weeks really focusing on what I ingest. And I must say, cutting gluten and dairy out has had a positive affect. The days I don't consume those two things, my stomach is flat, nothing hurts (for the most part). Knowing it takes quite awhile to get these things out of your system, I know it's going to take a lot more time. But how long?

This past weekend, I spent at the Cape celebrating the upcoming nuptials of two of the best people I know. Normally, when forced into a group of people I don't know, I nervously eat my way through the event.

Confession: I am an over eater/anxiety eater/social over eater.

(There, it's finally out.)

Hubs and I have been having recent discussions on food. Mostly because I finally came to terms with the fact that I self sooth, with food. Therefore, I've been making a conscious effort to be aware of when I'm eating because I'm hungry, or eating to comfort myself. And I must say, I'm quite proud of my strength this past weekend. Being thrown into a house of 17 lovely ladies, and only knowing the bride, usually would send me reeling. But....I focused on me. I said to myself "Celia, be yourself. If people like you, great. If they don't, it will affect you no differently." And it didn't. I kept reminding myself to eat only when I was hungry, and be open to chat and mingle.

The benefit of being myself: I met some truly wonderful gals that I thoroughly look forward to seeing at the wedding, and hopefully beyond. Because let's face it ladies, our female connections are how we deal with things.

A friend recently sent me this great article on how men and women differ in how they deal with life's issues. I've included it below because it was exactly what I've come to realize recently.

So to all you new friends out there, the following is for you. Whether we've spoken or you follow along to my daily rambles, I hope in someway that I've been either a support or delivered words of comfort.

In an evening class at Stanford, the last lecture was on the mind-body connection - the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that  one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.   
 Women connect with each other differently and  provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality “girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.   
 Women share feelings whereas  men often form relationships around activities . They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely.   
 Women do it all of the time.. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.   
 There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged—not true. In fact, he said that  failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as  dangerous to our physical health as smoking !   
 So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo… let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends.. Evidently it’s very good for our health.   
 Thanks to all the girls in my life who have helped me stay healthy, happy, and feeling very loved.   
 Life isn't about surviving the storm; but how you dance in the rain.