The power of Education...

Something that so many of us take for granted but is quite possibly one of the most valuable things in life, I am feeling a bit romantic at the moment, so I will dare to say only behind Love, passion, and a few of those other "fluffy" motivational type things. I am forever grateful for the education I have been provided with, not only University and post-graduate, though I am more thankful for these by many measures of the imagination. I enjoyed my early years of development at school, though like all kids, I had my rough times of teasing and wondering what spot I would be picked for the recess kick-ball game. As I was sitting on the train tonight on my way home, I began to realize in ways how my education has saved my life, and other ways that it really doesn't seem to make a difference. The main ways that these two come into play are flying and eating. This might not make sense to many, like I am sure a lot of my thoughts. Though... in this little head of mine it does. You see, I am not sure where, or when it happened for sure, some time around the middle school years, but something clicked and I went from the child who was not afraid to fly and had done it time after time to being so anti-flight that I missed a family vacation to Niagara Falls (I opted to stay in Oklahoma with family for some crazy reason) as well as force my mother into taking an amtrak train from Missouri to New York City, a journey that took the better part of several days. It was a fun trip, don't get me wrong, there was a lot of bonding, a large bag filled only with coloring books, dolls, games, etc... Regardless of the amount of education I have, the studies and evidence all point to the extreme safety of plane travel, I know that I am so much more likely to become injured or worse in my every day life, on the tube, walking down the street, so on and so on, but there is just some missing link where I cannot allow the greater knowledge I have received via so many mediums to penetrate into my thick scull and my nervous beating heart, and my anxious body when it comes time to close that cabin door and prepare for lift off. I currently have to holidays booked which involve air travel and a minimum of three more in the near booking future (ease of travel is one of the major perks to living in London). And at times the mere thought of walking down the gang way makes my body tingle in flight or fight mode (I usually tend to go with flight, and am ready to take off running... not flying!)

Though the opposite is said to be true of my education in another way, in a way, that I know has made my life much better, happier, stronger and quite possibly saved it. That is when it comes to eating. I like many girls, have struggled with the difficulties of a number of issues with food. Though I don't know the true route of these I do have estaminets and probably route causes, but that is not what I am writing about now. It is not something I think that I am fully over, and may possibly never been free of (though I am not sure how many women or people for that matter are in some way or another). I want to write about how the education of the extreme harm not giving my body proteins and nutrients would do to me, and my quality of life over the years. A lot of health problems come with being too thin, just as they do with being obese. Obviously if I were to have to choose, I would go with the thinner, but luckily I get to choose healthy, fit, and active. If it hadn't clicked and I wasn't able to put forth the education that I had received in this situation I would probably be in a far worse position, but that is not the case. I know the harmful effects, and am able to look to the future and know what I really want in life... and sleeping my life away while my body deteriorates is not one of them. I am beyond grateful for nutrition classes and the shock value of what things become when they go too far. Similar to drugs, I am grateful to know the full effects before I am so overly addicted, in over my head that I lose control of my life to forces other than myself. I don't know why my education allows itself to click in one area, but not the other, but I won't question it either, simply hope and pray that the wonders of physics clicks a bit more and soon to help my life out a little.