DO YOU HAVE "TOXIC MUSHROOMS" IN YOUR LIFE?


In the rainy season in Newlands forest near where I lived in Cape Town, it was "mushroom time" after the rains. Dedicated gourmands and day trippers indulged in the gentle sport of… mushroom hunting, going into the moist leafy places under the trees, ferreting for the fungus that tickles the fancy and fuels the tastebuds.

One day I heard an obvious novice who had just picked up a huge white saucer of a mushroom, stop a passerby for advice. “Oh don’t ask me, “ he said, “ask my wife – she’s an expert in mycology (the study of fungi)”
“Is this an edible one?” he asked her.
“Well…” she said, giving it an expert twirl, “it’s only poisonous if you don’t cook it properly!”

I couldn’t help chuckling to myself as I continued my brisk perambulations that day. As I came across a few interesting specimens myself, I wondered: “When in my life have I eaten potentially “toxic mushroom?” A situation, a person – “potentially poisonous” and all the warning bells go off – but my thinking mind disregards the reality and plunges in for a toxic taste…potentially lethal!

How often do we put off making a change – because we have built up a tolerance for the toxicity of the situation? Like the frog that jumps into the cold pot of water that starts to warm up to a boil – we don’t notice the damage until it’s – almost – too late! We tell ourselves that the pain is only “slight” and we can manage it. After all, there’s some safety and protection in the pot – while jumping out means facing the cold and unknown.

I remember a time – only a few years ago – when I felt I had no choice… and stayed in what became clear to me was an increasingly toxic marriage. It took a fire (which symbolically started in the 20-year marriage bed and destroyed the whole top floor of our home) and physical and emotional breakdown on both sides, before we could stop ingesting the “uncooked” mushroom of our marriage.

After many years of deeply challenging emotional de-toxing to find my authentic self – and my soul – again, I have been given a second chance at life and seven years later remarried to live my perfect life. Day to day, I check out options, knowing instinctively what will serve my well-being and what is poisonous – cooked or uncooked! So ask yourself today: “where in my life am I eating potentially poisonous mushroom? And what action can I choose to do right now to change for my own well-being and peace of mind?