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Fadzayi Maposah Correspondent
Who like me can still hear the sound of loud music? What about the peals of laughter? Is that the sweet aroma of roast beef? I bet that is evidence of someone ensuring that their family and loved ones have baked treats? It is still the festive season. Some people are already winding down 2023 as they prepare for 2024.
Reproductive health is all cyclical. One moment something is ending, another moment something is starting. There is always something happening. It is either the lack of something or the abundance of something.
In 2023 there are many reproductive health choices that we made. Some of them we actually sat down and thought it all out. Some of the choices, our bodies made for us on our behalf. How is that possible someone may be asking? Very possible. Our bodies have a lot of input regarding the choices that we make.
I consider myself a very faithful individual. Now my faithfulness is not confined just to relationships. It goes further than that. There are instances that when in a supermarket, I have failed to obtain bread from my favourite bakery for reasons better known by the supermarket staff.
As I try to reach out to obtain a loaf from another bakery, I just feel that I am cheating! Too much, you say? It could be the hormones and the aging. When something does not make sense, throw it back to the reproductive health cycle!
In some instances, I have had to resort to other options other than bread as long as it is from the same bakery. The other thing is I do not seem to enjoy bread as much as I used to in the past. Each day I just seek something to replace bread! Hormones? Aging?
Maybe I just had too much bread when I was a child. That could be a valid point, because in boarding school we ate so much bread. The school dining hall provided a few slices daily maybe just as a way of ensuring that we would not complain that there was no bread. I do not know who had programmed their kitchen bread slicing machine but it literally shred bread such that if one took a slice, one could see everything going on behind the slice. The slices were very thin. If one was hasty to spread either butter or jam, one would watch the slice separate in the side plate!
So we supported the school tuckshop in a major way. We bought loaves of bread that we had control over. When we cut the bread the slices were huge. It made us feel good that we could decide how thick the slices were. Then we would generously spread whatever we had in stock. During my boarding school years, tinned foods were allowed so you can imagine the combinations we would create and how we would dip our thick slices in the tinned food varieties…..
I have realised that never judge people for what you do not know. You may end up disliking the good people. In 2023 I have literally had to hop from one relationship to another in search of fulfilment and satisfaction. I am not yet content because the partners all seem to have very visible faults. I know relationships are about accommodating. Relationships are also about compromise. Just how much should one accommodate or compromise when in a relationship? What kind of boundaries should one put in place?
As I age I am beginning to separate myself from relationships that drain me, leaving me half unconscious! What an effect to have on someone. What I have realised is that with age, we tend to outgrow some relationships. It seems that these connections actually worked at some time but are so irrelevant now. No matter how hard one tries to rekindle the flame, it is of no use. Employ any tricks and nothing changes.
In 2023, I have tried all sort of sanitary ware. That is the relationship hopping that I just mentioned above. Your brain had imagined all sorts? The human brain….You had really labelled me as a very unfaithful. It is not your fault, this speaking in riddles leaves the mind open to anything.
There is sanitary ware that used to impress me not even many years ago, maybe months but now I look at it and consider it a big disappointment. This is because my expectations and what it is delivering are parallel. Think about it, there was a time that ultra thin pads were what I considered ideal. I would be very confident using these very thin pads. Now in my getting to menopause , these very thin pads only work as a back up to a tampon. Not that I am saying that the ultra thin pads are not as good as they used to be, I just have to let go of a relationship that has outlived its usefulness.
So I may be considered unfaithful to a brand that sustained me for years. While trying to get what can be the ideal, I try all sorts. I go against the catchline : Please do not try this at home. With every new product that I want to try, the first time that I use it is when I am home. Then if any mishap happens I am in the confines of home where I can just chide myself. If I soil bed linen, I wash and gently tell myself that I should have done better.
As we end 2023 , end unhealthy reproductive health relationships and start ones that are beneficial to all parties involved. It has been some year regarding reproductive health but we look back and learn from our mistakes and also realise that we are now past some issues. Remember we cannot stop the flow of the reproductive health processes but we can learn to cope and adjust to what is prevailing.
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