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Ty Guy's First Day of Pre-K
August 10, 2022
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This past August, the youngest of my three children—my 4-year old son, Tyler—started VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten). This means that three times a week (on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays) for five hours per day, my workday is now kid-free.
Now I'm not gonna lie...
As much as I adore and cherish my three precious children, this daddy daycare reprieve after nearly SEVEN (7) YEARS of sauntering patiently along in the "Stay-at-Home Dad" saddle has been sorely welcome and nothing short of HEAVENLY!
I have chosen to spend much of this newly acquired free time working out in an effort to finally get back into the kind of physical shape I enjoyed before the COVID-19 Pandemic, which influenced a depressing 20-pound weight gain that has been difficult to shake.
Living in the paradise that is South Florida, I have made it a priority to try and do at least ONE workout per week at the Beach, and so far, I've been pretty consistent in reaching this fun and convenient goal.
I first saw the ocean on the Oregon Coast back in 1986 when I was six years old—and I've been in love with oceans and beaches ever since. Since those early days, I have visited scores of different beaches in a dozen U.S. States, several foreign countries, and a number of spots throughout the magical Caribbean. In short, the beach is one of my favorite places to visit. It is one of my truly "Happy Places" on this Earth.
Growing up in the high dry deserts of the deeply landlocked Intermountain West—far away from any oceans—made me love the beach even more, so moving to the Atlantic Coastline of South Florida has truly been a dream come true for me.
My new kid-free weekly visits to the beach are beautiful, peaceful, soul-restoring, productive (in terms of exercise) and full of solitude (which is something I need and cherish in my life and career as a writer and thinker). In short: it's MAGICAL; and I love every minute I get to spend there. Aside from taking time to relax my mind and exercise my physical body, I've even started to develop a decent tan—which leads me to the topic of today's blog post.
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The day I went to the beach and
sowed the seeds of "Hell's Itch"
March 9, 2022 |
Earlier this year—before I started developing my tan—I was a pretty pale fellow who was just dreaming of a browner hue gracing my skin tone, which, in its lustrous and natural genetic state, bears a striking resemblance to Casper the friendly ghost. I had enjoyed tans at various junctures of my youth, but have remained largely fair-skinned as an adult.
On Wednesday, March 9th, around the middle of the day, and before my little son had begun VPK, I decided to take Tyler to the beach. With my tanning dreams in mind—and recognizing that there is no time like the present—I decided to take my shirt off for just one hour and thereby begin the gradual process of acquiring that elusive tan.
The hour passed peacefully as Ty guy and I dug in the sand, swam in the water, waded in the waves, and otherwise enjoyed our time together at the beach. When the hour was up, I consciously put my shirt back on, and we shortly thereafter returned home.
A few hours later I began to realize it would have been wiser to have started off with 20 or 30 minutes shirtless in the sun instead of an hour. By sundown, I knew I had a pretty significant sunburn and began to apply aloe vera gel and prepare myself mentally for the inevitable discomfort that would likely follow in coming days.
At this point in time, I wasn't too worried because I had made this mistake before, and so felt as though I had a pretty good idea what was coming. There would be a few days of discomfort, and then some mild-to-moderate itching as the burned skin peeled off and healed itself. I figured that with my aloe vera gel in hand, working through
this sunburn would be much like previous sunburns I had experienced in my life, which weren't too terrible to deal with.
My experience on Thursday and Friday was pretty predictable along these assumed lines. My sunburn was uncomfortable, but not unbearable. I had, after all, experienced worse in the past.
All that changed on Saturday morning when I unexpectedly and suddenly developed a sunburn-related itch all over my back the likes of which I had never experienced. This was not one of those typical "skin-peeling, sunburn starting to heal" sort of mild-to-moderate itches. No, this was something altogether different, and much, Much, MUCH worse!
The itch started out somewhat mildly, but quickly progressed to a moderate—and then severe and painful—itch. "No problem" I said to myself: I can just cake a bunch of aloe vera gel on my back and I'll be fine.
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I knew I was in trouble when my cure-all aloe vera
gel proved useless in combatting my excruciating symptoms. |
In this particular case, however, the aloe vera gel did
not solve my problem. In fact, it seemed to make matters even worse. By the time I figured this out, the itch had become so severe that I hopped in the shower in hopes that cold water would in some way palliate the awful symptoms I had begun to experience.
While a cold shower provided some measure of temporary relief, it did not solve the root problem. As soon as I was out of the shower, the severe itch would return and I would apply more aloe vera gel, but to no avail.
Growing desperate, I tried applying liberal quantities of benadryl (anti-itch) cream, but like the aloe vera gel, it provided such minimal relief that I would soon be back in the shower washing it all off with cold water in another desperate attempt to quell the horrifying symptoms that had begun to overtake me.
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Words are inadequate to fully capture
the agonizing symptoms of Hell's Itch |
As more time passed, the itch grew increasingly worse. Before I knew it, I found myself in bed involuntarily contorting my body every which way and then on the ground writhing around in indescribable agony in vain attempts to somehow find relief from this completely unprecedented misery.
Words are, quite honestly, inadequate in capturing what I was feeling at this moment. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
The two best words I can find to describe it is: absolutely HELLISH!
It was so bad, in fact, that I began to wonder if I should call 911 and request that emergency services come immediately and assist me. What I really desired was to be given some kind of potent anesthesia that would completely knock me out and, quite literally, "put me out of my misery" until professional doctors could find a cure to this ailment that was as horrifying as it was mystifying.
At this moment of climactic agony, I prayed for help—any help—to ameliorate the absolutely agonizing sensations that were pulsating through the skin on my back from this sunburn-induced hellish itch.
Shortly thereafter, my prayer was answered when I found the solution to my problem—an extraordinarily counterintuitive solution, I might add.
Using the Internet on my smart phone, I was able to fumblingly and bumblingly locate an article about a sunburn-induced affliction known as "Hell's Itch" where I began to access good information about the affliction that had so completely consumed me.
According to one website, "Many people describe [Hell's Itch] as the worst pain they've ever experienced, with some women comparing it to labour. Thankfully, it's fairly rare which is why you've probably never heard of it before" and helped explain why I had never experienced it before (1).
One victim described it this way: "It felt like I was being stabbed by the sharp point of a thousand compasses, while lemon juice and itching powder was rubbed into the wounds" (2). Others have described "it as if fire ants are crawling and biting at the affected skin" (3).
Dr. Cory Stewart suffered a bout of Hell's Itch after vacationing in the Caribbean. According to Stewart:
"It was this deep itch you couldn't do anything about. ... You feel like you are going crazy and nobody believes you. [Stewart explained that when his wife came home to find her new husband tortured by something as simple as a sunburn, her disbelief only made the ordeal worse.] ... Nobody can understand or believe you unless you've gone through it" (4).
From my own experience, I can tell you that Dr. Stewart is NOT exaggerating. In my 43 years of living on this planet, I can count on two fingers the experiences I've had that come even remotely near to the agony I experienced upon contracting Hell's Itch. And like Dr. Stewart's wife, Lina was similarly incredulous when she saw what an animated and dramatic scene I was making... and all because of a little sunburn!
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Don't take a hot shower with a sunburn,
unless you have Hell's Itch, in which case
you will be eager to feel the burn! |
Scanning through the details of the ailment, I was able to finally find THE REMEDY, which was so completely counterintuitive that I never would have thought of it myself.
The solution to Hell's Itch is to take a HOT SHOWER... and I mean as hot as you can stand.
Of course the last thing you want to do when you have a bad sunburn is to take a hot shower. Despite this reality, I can honestly say I couldn't wait to try this purported solution out myself—that is how bad Hell's Itch is: you'd rather scald your sunburn with hot water than suffer another second of the much more debilitating effects of the affliction.
Within seconds of learning this information, I hopped into the shower and turned the water to as HOT as it would go. The hot water on my sunburned back hurt—of course—but I can honestly say that it felt almost soothing by comparison to the symptoms of Hell's Itch.
As the hot water began pouring over my aggrieved back, I almost instantly began to feel a measure of relief—despite the smart of the hot water on my burned skin. And the longer I let the hot water cascade down my sunburned back, the better I felt. This strange and counterintuitive method was actually working! It was as if the hot water was killing the "fire ants" that were eating away at my skin all over my back. The relief that poured over my mind and heart at this realization was exceedingly welcome and filled my soul with gratitude-filled hope.
After several minutes of enduring the hot water as it mildly scalded the sunburned skin on my back, I realized that almost all of the symptoms of Hell's Itch had disappeared, so I shut off the water, dried off, and collapsed into bed where I gave way to my exhaustion and fell into a peaceful slumber. But before I did, I laid there in astonished gratitude with another prayer of thanks pulsating in my mind and heart for being so serendipitously blessed to find the solution to such a distressing, egregious, perplexing, and unprecedented malady.
March 12th, 2022 was the first and last time I have ever experienced Hell's Itch. I hope and pray I don't ever experience it again. I don't know why it hit me this time around, especially in light of the fact that I've been sunburned many previous times in my life. But I am sure relieved to know that there is a solution to this truly hellish predicament if I do ever contract it again.
Fortunately, I now have a good enough tan that I can go shirtless for an hour at a time without any problem—although I limit my still somewhat pasty, white, dad-bod to an hour or less of sun exposure in the simple hope of avoiding skin cancer down the road!
My experience with Hell's Itch provided me with a powerful
Life Lesson Learned. I now know what this affliction is—and more importantly,
how to remedy the problem if and/or when it arises in the future to me or anyone else I know.
This experience also provided me with a few Life Lesson reviews and reminders, as follows:
1. The importance of PACING... don't bite off more than you can chew!
2. Don't forget to pray!
3. Sometimes the answers to life's deepest questions and the solutions to life's greatest problems are counterintuitive. Knowing how pasty and white my dad bod was back in the March of this year, I should have known better than to expose my bare back to the noonday sun for an entire hour on day one of my tanning program. In hindsight, I should have started off with 15 or 20 minutes and then built up my tan gradually from there while never exposing my skin to more than it could handle or that was safe.
This same lesson can be applied to virtually every other life or career undertaking. Simply stated: PACING is Essential if you seek to achieve authentic results in a safe manner.
I have often had to learn this lesson the hard way in my life and career. For example, as an inexperienced distance runner in high school, it took me many years to learn an important lesson about competitive running, and the lesson was this: it doesn't matter who is in first place after the first hundred yards or the first lap of a race; what matters is who is in first place at the
end of the race! In other words, it doesn't matter how fast you are if you don't properly pace yourself for the duration of the race.
PACING is KEY!
There were many times when my enthusiasm as a runner trumped my experience and maturity as a runner. The result was to find myself in first place early on in the race only to fall back and get passed by other, more disciplined and better paced competitors later in the race. I can tell you that the pain and embarrassment of falling back later in the race always outweighs the excitement of being in first place early on.
Thus, it takes more than mere enthusiasm to be successful: it also requires effective pacing strategies intermingled with discipline, hard work, and persistence over long periods of time (patience).
Secondly, there is POWER in prayer and other, similar forms of mental and spiritual-oriented practices, such as meditation and the mental and verbal application of positive affirmations. It is worth noting that my sincere supplication of the Almighty preceded my discovery of a solution. Nonbelievers may claim it was the Internet Search, not my prayer, that made the difference, and they are at least partially correct in asserting this claim. Nevertheless, I've had so many positive personal experiences with answered prayers (more than I could possibly recount) to keep me enthusiastically praying for the rest of my life! I should note also that it took several searches before I arrived at the correct solution to my problem. Hence faith (and prayer) without works is usually dead, just as scripture so cogently declares. And it is the WORKS portion of the equation that the Self-Action Leadership Theory & Model is primarily concerned with.
At Freedom Focused, we don't ask or require anyone to be a believer; but as an individual self-action leader, I will never shy away from sharing my authentic personal experiences and offering them up as anecdotal data points—for whatever they might be worth to others; and we encourage others to do the same, regardless what their belief systems do or do not include.
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Just as you must tear down your muscles in order to build them up, life is full of counterintuitive solutions to our most difficult and complex challenges and problems. |
Lastly, sometimes the answers to life's questions and concerns are very
intuitive. For example, don't touch a red hot stove or it will hurt! Or, cool water and soothing aloe vera gel are usually best for helping to soothe a painful sunburn.
But there are times when the exact opposite is the case, such as when HOT water is required to quell the far sterner consequences of Hell's Itch, or...
- When you must break down your muscle fibers in order to build them up, or...
- Let go in order to hold on, or...
- Shut up in order to more effectively and persuasively speak up or out, or...
- Change course in order to more efficiently complete a course, or...
- Cut ties in order to heal frayed connections, or...
- Stop aiming at success in order to achieve even greater success (5), or...
- "Try hard not to try so hard" (6) in order to finally achieve an elusive goal or objective, or...
- Stop chasing after life and give life a chance to catch up to you.
In said situations and circumstances, all of us must be willing to do the difficult, counterintuitive, and often painful work that Natural Law demands in order to accomplish desired ends.
Self-action leaders are so committed, dedicated, and willing.
Are YOU?
—Dr. JJ
November 9, 2022
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Author's Note: This is the 291st Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 120th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 290 FF Blog Articles.
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Notes:
5. Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning taught his students to listen to and follow their consciences rather than merely "aim at success." He assured them that if they would do so, that "success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it" (Frankl, V. [1984] Man's Search for Meaning. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, page 17)
6. Advice given by an exasperated nurse (played by Kathleen Freeman) to an overly enthusiastic orderly (played by Jerry Lewis) in the 1964 Hollywood movie: The Disorderly Orderly, directed by Frank Tashlin.
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