01/01/2008 – Phillip Holt's World

So OK I am getting better from the cold or virus (virus or bacteria click to read) I developed, with runny nose, sore throat, and a thick head. But, last night it felt as if I had something stuck in the back of my throat, a pocket type thing, hanging from the roof of the back of my mouth.

What was it?

Had I eaten some strange food that got caught, had I scratch the roof of my mouth?

On looking inside the mouth, I saw the uvula the small finger like thing hanging at the back of the mouth, between the tonsils, if you still have them.
uvula tonsils Diagram showing the human mouth.
It was inflamed and swollen. It is highly infected.

It seems that an infection can be caused by a number of things, including dehydration, well I am drinking a lot so it can not be that, smoking, I gave that up 30 years ago and no-one smokes here, or allergic reaction, it could be that as I have no idea what I am eating, or snoring, I know I do not snore even though people say I do, I know they are lying, or a viral or bacterial infection (click to read Virus v Bacteria).

They say the best thing to do is to gargle with salt water. Well I will give it a try.

As I had no idea what the purpose of the uvula is, I researched I found some interesting information. I know why we have legs and arms, but this thing hanging from the top of the mouth, the soft palate?

It seems it is used to stop food going the wrong way down, in other words down our wind pipe, it is also useful for making sounds.

For a few years I had taken participants learning English in Turkey (click on the Category Archives on the left hand panel “English Courses” for more information), who were on a nine day course from 9am until 9pm, and three times a day, I would teach them some skills using NLP, some relaxation and memory skills, and during the sessions I would teach that language was a whole body experience.

It seems that the uvula plays an important part in language and talking.

When making sounds with the air coming from the lungs, the uvula is used along with the tongue, in English to make guttural sounds, to stop air passing through the nose to make sounds like my wifes family name NG. Different languages use the uvula to make different sounds.

Ok another piece of useless information to add to my collection.

To all my friends around the world, may I wish you a Happy New Year.

It is a time to reflect on all we have or have not achieved in the previous year.

It is a time to make promises and wishes to ourselves about those things we want to do in the new year.

Make the New Year resolutions, positive, beneficial to yourself and others, become motivated to do these things, and most of all, see yourself doing these things as if you are there standing in your own shoes at the time to come now.

Live your dreams now. Daydream.

When looking back, we often use the words “what if” and “if only”.

“What if had said this or that?”

            “What if I had done that?”

            “What if this had happened?”

“If only I had said this.”

“If only I had done that”

“If only I could do…….”.

What has ever happened in the past has happened, it is history, let it go, but learn from it. Many people continually do the same thing, time after time, if it does not work, change what you are doing.

“If only I had changed my job or my supplier, I would be so much better and happier off now.”

It did not happen. Get on now and make the changes.

“If only I had not said what I said”.

It was said. If it hurt someones feelings, or was against their belief or culture, and you did not know at the time, then is it your fault, or the other person who could have been a little more tolerant towards you. Learn from your mistakes and say and do it differently next time.

“If only I had not done that”.

As long as you did what you did with good intention at the time, then rejoice. It happened, get over it. Perhaps, you like me, walked into a lamp post, or fell into a hole injuring yourself, and you say :-

“If only I had seen the lamp post”.

You did not see the danger. Next time you will be more aware of things that can go wrong. Learn from it, else you will get hurt again.

When we say “if”, we tend to try and place the blame on other actions, other people, other times, to take the responsibility from ourselves.

Stop it.

There is only one person in charge, and that person is you.

Live your live as you want it to be, not as if it could be, make it real.

Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR, and thank you all who I have had contact with in the past for being there, and I hope to meet with you in a new POSITIVE New year.

Want to know an NLP term, click here or visit NLP Glossary on the left.