Month: October 2021

Think Fast…. blessed to have training

Every parent and maybe every teen should get First Aid training you can save a life. Last weekend my child from anaphylactic shock. Years ago it was my boss. Thankful to have done American Red Cross training years ago, and continuing to build health literacy for myself and others through today.

It was an awkward moment for one of my Supervisors a brief treatment psychologist, a vulnerable moment where he turned blue from some food he was eating. Running over instinctively as part of Procedural memory I knew what to do, I wrapped my arms around his upper waist made a triangular fist under the diaphragm giving him the Heimlich manoeuvre. He was very lucky person that day as I prevented him from choking and saved his life. Right place right time.

Photo by Roger Brown on Pexels.com
Some mornings you’re extra glad to see the ”Peace and Friendship” stadium from a hospital window! As it says below in Greek ”Each sunrise 🌅 of our life is not a “given” it is a blessing” and we know this well as the country of Greece recently mourns a beloved political leader, Fofi Gennimata, and her long battle with cancer.

As health literacy month comes to a close, some last October thoughts —

  1. Get trained in CPR and basic first aid
  2. Genetics are partly responsible but MAJOR role are our habits/choices for long-term health
  3. Remember screenings appropriate to your gender and life stage (some like dental care need to be done biannually for good oral health, pap tests for women, colonoscopies over 50, etc.)
  4. Anglo-Saxon and Traditions of the Americas like Halloween 🎃 are now popular throughout the world 🌎 so keep some healthy ideas going (pumpkin and nuts versus candy corn?)
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After the storm


A great day, one of beach cleanup, and getting some much needed vitamin D from natural sunlight. Floods have become commonplace as a result of bad weather ⛈🌪 and deforestation due to fires 🔥 this past summer with one of the greatest ecological disasters on the isle of Evoia, as one friend said “apocalyptic”. A public transport bus in Attica was flooded as the driver misjudged a bridge and the passengers made a human chain to get out, several drownings — all reminisce cases of people we know who died — wrong place at the wrong time. 💔😥 Often in a rush to make it on time, we misjudge and create accidents, or lose a life.

This day was all about teamwork, beach cleanup after the storm, the benefits of volunteerism. Plastics, cigarette butts, beer cap bottles, old shoes, were some of our findings. So glad that cafes and restaurants are finally mandated to use paper straws. Thus, the lovely loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta, native to the region, won’t get the plastic ones we found (counted over 25!!!) stuck in their snouts.

“If I could remind people one thing for their own and other’s health — Slow Down and enjoy each moment!”

Author, October 2021

Thank God for seashells, and rainbows 🌈 and the promise of new beginnings. Great days ahead.

Be kind

It’s a virtue, we can all work on it and pass the message on to our children. Strive for a better world. This “Above Inspiration” video says it all, and a reminder of what matters.

Be Kind …. You may affect a life
  • Your rude neighbor or colleague — we all have them! Take a lesson from the late Mr. Fred Rogers, and his ”won’t you be my neighbor” inspired life work on public television (Academy Award).
  • Road rage is so intense that one has to grin and bear it. …. my mouthing “stupid” the other day to the lady with the silver Mercedes who tried flying through cutting us off, or the 30-something guy with the beard driving (anything but) SMART almost hitting me at the crosswalk as the light turned red …. nearly running I said, ”slow down you’re going to kill someone” maybe he will think about that next time? Instead of sarcastically mouthing ”idiot” 😊😇 try a smile instead !
  • Ungrateful People whom you’ve bent over backwards to help, introduced them to their (future) partner, help them find work, mentored them, maybe an ”EX” who should appreciate your raising their children (with little support, almost alone) and be grateful in your heroic efforts. At the expense of losing your precious time, they seemingly keep asking for more, or never ask you about your life and needs!
  • Friends opposed to you and your “political” viewpoints — from vaccinations or not, education reform, job security, seems more common these days as social media may be segregating us more than we know.
  • Your family and their (im)perfections. Need I say more?

After all, caring is good for your heart AND your health according to recent articles and think science ! There is a great Greek word that respects our humanity to be kind to all people called “philotimo” (φιλότιμο)…. Let’s keep it going.

Remember to say thank you and be kind!

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

October 4th — World Animal Day

Elders, animals, compassion is more of what we need to help our communities become more health literate and learning patience and respect. October is health literacy month.

It’s more than “knowledge” it is taking the appropriate actions for your and other’s health and being advocates for local and global change. This is across the globe as it includes animals — October 4th world animal day to commemorate St. Francis of Assisi.

When I ask friends, what does your pet mean to you? or how did your pet help you during COVID lockdowns, the answers I get are consistent with the evidence that pets help by minimizing stress, furry animals in particular “give warmth and love” to their owners who attribute “good health” to these little (or big) creatures. Teaching children to take care of pets, including respecting the larger environment, helps them become more active in their communities.

  • Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com
  • Budgies are fair-feather and talkative pets
  • Photo by Anastasiya Gepp on Pexels.com

Global Health Literacy goes to Taipei, Taiwan this year virtually (more to come on that later)! Keep learning about how you can contribute to your community’s pro-animal efforts:

  • Be generous
  • Be proactive about your health in understanding how to minimise stress
  • Get animals spade or neutered (microchips a must for house pets)
  • Respect all creatures big and small
  • Adopt and feed stray animals
  • Remember some animals are becoming extinct, educate yourself and donate to organisations like Greenpeace

A big Thank You to all the animals who posed for us for health literacy month !