Breathe deeply, and relax!

I have commenced a diet. I started, not because I was obese, or that my BMI (Body Mass Index) was indicating that my statistics were well above healthy levels, nor did I commence because I had a ‘image problem’; I wanted to lose weight because I was too fat! My heart was being stressed because of the increased bulk I was asking it to carry around, and I was in the danger zone for signs of diabetes and other illnesses. Which diet I am observing is perhaps my own business, as I do not wish to advertise anyone else’s products, books or websites; but I can confirm that I have so far lost 1 ½ Stones, or 21-odd pounds in ‘old money’ of course; in 39 days, which is not too bad. I try and stick to my diet, but had a small hiccup when I went out for a family dinner to welcome my late brother’s long-time lady-friend to the North-East, as she had brought his ashes back to us. I put weight back on, and lost around four days progress because of one meal of ‘forbidden fruits’!

I am telling the readership about small details of my life because, alongside the diet, I have also commenced a daily visit to a gym for exercise, as I need to get active again, even in a limited way. The gym is privately-owned and operated, and besides the normal items which it advertises, such as weight exercise classes, and functions, there also appears a large signboard for dance and community tutoring for children. Now the whole idea, to me seems beneficial and to be totally worthy and innocuous, but I think it a sign of the times in which we live that a prominent statement upon that same advertising signboard is the statement ‘All Instructors and Staff are CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked’.

It is not only a sign of the times, but also a reflection of the Society in which we live, that we live in a world which seems to reassure parents that all has been done for their children’s protection, but is in fact a legal veil behind which the organisers and operators hide behind in the event of some monstrous individual gaining access to small children under the pretence of being ‘Security Checked’.