It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that the studies for nutritional labeling were initiated by our government during World War II to assure that military personnel would receive ‘superior nutrition’! Today, the terms are dizzying – Estimated Average Requirements, Recommended Dietary Allowances, Adequate Intake, Tolerable Upper Intake Levels, Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges, Dietary Reference Values and on and on. [Click on the title above to continue reading]
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I reflected on all these terms recently during various conversations with people about key relationships in their lives and how, in the chaos of our busy lives, we keep these relationships alive and important. It’s complex. If I just think about my siblings, I have a separate relationship with each one and they with me, but these are not the same, nor are they unified. I can’t define the relationship I have with my ‘siblings’ as if they were a homogenous group with the presumption of a common relationship. What I need or want from them is different perhaps than what they may need or want from me. And it changes as our lives evolve. Now multiply this complexity times however many important relationships you have in your life that you wish to devote some energy to maintaining and developing, let alone enjoying. And if you really want to blow your mind, consider just what the minimum daily requirement is that you need to devote to or receive from each. Or, in some cases, what the tolerable upper intake level is. What is the maximum daily allowance? What is the optimal range for these relationships for us to consider them to be in good health? How do we get there? What do we do when we know there are deficiencies? How do we fit that in? How do we do it in an unhurried way? As one friend confided in me – ‘how did I allow myself to get so busy doing god knows what that I shortchange the very people I consider most important in my life?’ I know there is no dietary supplement in the world to address that condition! Oh, if it were only possible to hook two people up to some socio-feedback machine and have it print out a panel of just what that relationship needs from each other, where the deficiencies might be, what’s out-of-balance. Of course, it’s silly to suggest it’s even possible to calculate or develop these so-called supplement panels for each relationship we have. But, we must pause at times and take stock of the health of our relationships, especially with those whom we love and those who love us. And – this part is not silly - the circumstances around each will only change or improve with an intentional and conscientious effort on your part. Like your physical health, if you are not doing it today, unless something changes, you won’t do it tomorrow either. Pick up the phone. Leave a message. Write a note. Send them a card. Go visit someone. Invite them over. Plan a weekend. Make it happen. For no reason whatsoever, other than they are special and it means something to you. |