The adventures of the water bottle

Fadzayi Maposah Correspondent

There is a craze that has hit the country.

It is not for me to say that these people are crazy, I just used craze for lack of a better word.

I do not want to offend anyone. I come in peace. Maybe trend or wave are better words?

Anyway what I mean is the high level of participation in this issue is very high.

There are some families that have taken up this trend and there is total commitment and involvement. There even have reminders!

I am not sure that all those who carry these objects are really into the activity or they just want to fit in, wanting to really belong to something that everyone is doing.

Wanting and having to belong are a bit complicated. You may want to belong and then not fully incorporate what gets you to belong. Tricky is it not?

Is it not also true that when something happens and you are saying that you are participating, there should be some pointers to your involvement?

How many of you have become confused? How many of you are just curious to find out what it is? I could be making some people unnecessarily anxious so here goes….

The wave that has taken the country by storm is having a water bottle! Not what you thought? Never mind…

Just think about it, it seems everyone is now a proud owner of a water bottle or even bottles.

If there is one area where peer pressure has dominated it has to be the water bottles.

That there are so many amazing varieties of what bottles can only leave one spellbound.

So too are many shops that have made a killing out of the water bottles. When you think that you have “the” water bottle you are only very shocked to see either someone with an out of the world one or go into a shop and see a shop attendant packing shelves of the latest range of water bottles.

Now there are transparent water bottles. There are water bottles that are so thick that you can never know if they are full or empty. There are water bottles with messages; messages meant to inspire you as you drink and go through the day.

Only recently I saw one bottle that has time slots clearly marked. Right at the top is when you start and it indicates the level to which you should drink.

I used to tell myself that I would just drink water from any bottle or cup for that matter.

I must confess that I am now a fully registered member of the water bottles club. I just make sure that I do not allow myself to become a collector. Walk into any office and you are bound to bump into someone or some people with water bottles.

Initially it seemed it was a female thing but males are in it and in it very deep.

Probably as you are reading this you are sipping water from your bottle making sure that you at least meet your target for the day.

I have seen people drink water as they check messages on social media, as they read books even in church as the preacher shares the word of the day.

Now if you want to see an array of water bottles, attend a church service. There are almost as many varieties of water bottles as there are congregants!

Some congregants may never get to hear the word fully as they look at another’s water bottle and wonder where the member got it.

Others may even think that theirs is not good enough and hide it, while others may wish that they had another’s water bottle! It is a lot is it not?

What I have learnt is that there is always someone who has something better than what you have.

Think about it. Someone may also be looking at your water bottle and wishing it was theirs! Whatever the case, continue to hydrate. Do not focus so much on what your bottle looks like rather appreciate the contents more. Drink away and remain refreshed in this very hot weather.

Talking of the hot weather some of us who are getting to menopause or already menopausal, struggle in this heat. Someone on a menopause support group (that I am a proud and active member, let me add!) shared how she got her hair braided on a Saturday and by Tuesday had removed the braids just because she could not stand the heat she felt from the braids that also spread throughout the whole body!

In such a scenario people who have not experienced hot flashes may be asking seriously? Yes, seriously!

People have different challenges. I knocked on a door and opened only to see a friend patting her head with a water bottle.

It looked hilarious and at the same time shocking. She gave me the look that said “you will not understand”.

I continued to stare as I gave myself a seat realising that this one was busy in her own world.

I later asked if she had attempted taking in the water rather than using an almost frozen water bottle to pat all over her head.

The look that I got only said “and you think that I have not tried that?”

So I had a conversation with her as she patted her head and neck and occasionally opened the same bottle to sip from it! The adventures of the water bottle.

In this heat fellow menopausal relatives, stay hydrated, do not wear too many clothes or heavy materials, avoid the wigs like a plague!

Have an adventure with your water bottle! Focus on surviving the hot flashes. Remember they can come and go in a flash and return in a flash! The struggle is real!