I am in the Caribbean as I write this posting. Little did I realize the kindness and blessing provided to me by a neighbour who suffers from a Bi Polar condition.
There's a story here that you may enjoy. The poor man, whom I will call Benjamin for no other reason other then that he has a Bibical Christian name, went over the top about 3 weeks ago. He got on a manic roll that left his neighbours alarmed. He put spotlights around his house and he worked in a frenzy through the night.
In the morning his neighbours were aghast to discover that he had turned off the waterline to the street, and he barricaded the road so that no vehicles could advance, and to add a bit of spice to the mix he walked up and down the street, "preaching" sermons to the stars until his voice failed him.
When morning came, Benny's neighbours were standing on the road, looking blankly at him as he continued to richochet from one job to another. I refused any part of it. I am all to familiar with the horrors of mental illness, so I stayed clear of it all. The upshot of it all was, that Benjamin was finally taken away by the police to the local mental hospital.
When Ben returned in a week or so's time, I saw him outside his house. He was medicated and subdued.
This is when I chose my time to speak to him. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said..."Welcome back Benjamin....we were so worried for you. I hope you feel better now." "Bi Polar is a tough illness..I know many people who have it and it makes life hard, doesn't it?"
That bit of compassion opened a door to me writing this blog. Interesting how life works.
A day or two later Benjamin walked up to me, and he had two hands of green bananas he had cut from one of his stalks.
I brought the bananas home and asked my landlord how to cook green bananas and I did some online research - and I looked up their nutritional properties. I was surprised to see that green bananas - which are not highly glycemic, are loaded with vitamin B6. And, being the neophyte that I am, I looked up B6 to see what that vitamin is all about.
My B6 search yielded a goldmine of information......all good.
a. it promotes lymphocyte and interleuken production. (I don't have the link so you will have to google it for yourself.) Since my lymphocyte count has been low, this was wonderful news!
b. tests are showing that B6, has remarkable effects for people reducing their chance of getting lung cancer. Click here to be taken to webmd.com.
It goes to show that a little kindness goes a long way.
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