Written by Deborah Jordaan
Good day to all the beautiful souls that take time to read our thoughts and opinions every week. We appreciate you. This week I’m writing about the quality of life and how people all have different views on the subject. As we all know I work at an old age home and I see the patient’s conditions get worse. It doesn’t mean getting older means your life ends.
The sad part about some of the elderly at the home is that eventually they just exist and they lose the quality of living and enjoying every moment. They eat, sleep and breathe – not by choice but because they have to.
I went to breakfast with my partner as we often try to do to keep the quality of our life. Noticing two ladies in the corner of my eye I observed that they were having brunch and sharing a bottle of wine. They were both in their sixties but so smart and funky.
I approached them and asked if I could take a photo of them for inspiration for this article. They told me they were lifelong friends and that the one had come from the UK to see her friend. They enjoy life and make the most of every day. How beautiful.
The next person I know is a previous ballerina who has come from an affluent life but somewhere she lost her quality of life and has forgotten how to live. She spends her days going to shop, buying cat food and minimal food for herself. She wants to be miserable and have people feel so sorry for her but she is actually losing the time she has to have a quality of life on pity for herself, as everyone in her life prefers not to be in her space as she just drags everyone into her sorry excuse of a life.
PEST – play, eat, sleep and touch is quality of life.
Children have all those traits yet adults seem to have lost the play and touch. Those people that have lost quality of life must go inside themselves and go find their inner child and they could find their quality of life that they lost.
Don’t let people take away your PEST.
Sometimes when we are in toxic relationships we lose our PEST and to find it again is difficult but you are worth it, get out the hole you have fallen into and face your days with gusto.
My partner lost a leg below the knee as I have mentioned before but he refuses to sit in a corner and feel sorry for himself. He lives by the motto of PEST, if he allowed the pity to take over he would be less of a human and be a pitiful mess.
We don’t always feel like playing or touching but those are things that are crucial to a human being to feel like they are worth it. We have six human needs which are security, variety, significance, connection, contribution and growth but without play and touch we lose connection which in turn inhibits our growth.
So in my ending words my advice to all of you is don`t forget to practice PEST.