With the sun beating down and thirst-inducing activities keeping us on the go, I can remember the excitement as a child at school play days, church picnics, ball games or an afternoon in the backyard that ended with being offered a colorful freezie.
The vibrant colors made it hard to make a selection: purple, red, pink, orange, white or blue representing refreshing flavors like grape, watermelon, cherry, cream soda or blue raspberry.
Someone with scissors would clip off one end, thwarting any attempt on the part of a child to use their teeth to tear it open, and you were handed the frozen treat to enjoy.
The sweet, cold confection needed to be eaten quickly, before the thaw began, although as it got a little slushy it was especially good. The final step would be to slurp back the melted remnants by placing your fingers at the bottom of the packaging and running them up the length of the freezie to squeeze out the last drop.
But there were a couple of potential dangers to guard against. One was making sure you didn't cut the corner of your mouth on the sharp edges of the plastic casing. Wow, those tiny cuts stung. The greater risk though was consuming the ice cold treat too quickly and then suffering sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. Brain freeze. Big words for a short, albeit painful, episode.
Brain freeze or ice cream headache occurs when we eat or drink something extremely cold too quickly. As children we were more likely to experience it because in our excitement we couldn't slow down as we consumed ice cream, popsicles, slushes or freezies, but make no mistake, adults can get them too.
They hurt. Thankfully they dissipate rather quickly, although despite our promise to never let it happen again we invariably find ourselves holding our head in our hands or closing our eyes against the condition the next time we consume something frozen. Why don't we learn?!
The cure, in the grip of the seconds-long discomfort, is to press our tongue to the roof of our mouth. The tongue will transfer some heat and warm the nerves that are causing the pain. It’s a quick solution to a problem we bring on ourselves. Unfortunately, in other areas of our lives the remedies are not quite so simple.
Consider the consequences of rushing into a relationship, or making a significant purchase without thinking it through, or driving too fast or running our mouths and telling someone off. The pain associated with moving too quickly in those areas lasts a whole lot longer than the pain of an ice cream headache.
The human brain contains billions of neurons between which information runs. But sometimes we don’t let the information land properly or give adequate time to consider what our brains are telling us. We could save ourselves a lot of trouble if we would simply slow down and give more time and thought to some of what we do. But we find it hard being patient and so we act and speak in haste. The ramifications of too much speed results in broken relationships, financial hardship, accidents, and lost friendships, not to mention the impact on our emotional and physical health.
We live in a culture that rarely embraces the value of being patient. Instead of waiting to commit, to spend, to travel safely or to hold our tongue, we are reaping difficult consequences. Sadly, the average marriage in Canada lasts just 15.3 years. 60% of second marriages end in divorce. 73% of 3rd marriages do as well. As for buying what we want now rather than waiting and saving up for things, last month Canadians reached a record $2.32 trillion in credit card debt. Our habits on the road are hurting us too, with speeding being a factor in almost 30% of traffic fatalities and causing millions in damages every year. When it comes to friendship…one in five regret saying something to a friend that harmed the relationship, acknowledging they wouldn’t have made the comment if they had taken more time to think about it.
Our body gives us a powerful message to not be too quick in consuming frozen foods. We would be wise to listen to the other signals we are getting and spare ourselves pain that can come with being in a hurry with our words and actions, too.
Perhaps while enjoying slushes, ice cream cones or popsicles this summer we can remember that life goes best when we move with less haste and take time to savor all that is in front of us. That’s my outlook.
