A healthier outlook is the right medicine

I noticed that the chemists this week were all full of people holding tissues to their noses and looking for their first cold cures of the season.

We get the first bit of cooler, wetter weather and people are claiming flu, coughs, colds and head colds.

All that wind and rain last week surely can’t have wafted bird flu in from paradise?

I really don’t think they can all be ill.

Perhaps it’s psychosomatic – getting up when it’s a bit darker and watching the nights drawing in might just be helping folk imagine themselves into a wintry state of mind.

Are we lulling ourselves into sickness and snot simply because we’re dreading the thought of five months of winter?

We all know that illness can be affected by your thoughts.

Particularly traumatic experiences in life can literally turn people’s hair grey – or make them lose weight or become chronically sick with a whole variety of illness.

So is the same thing happening with the change of seasons on a lesser scale?

They say there’s something called Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is down to a lack of sunlight.

But surely that isn’t restricted to the wintertime with our odd climate? And anyway, that doesn’t give us a cold, just makes us glum.

Back-to-school germ sharing must have finished by now. That annual phenomenon is good news of course, because it hardens off the immune system to battle the dangers ahead …

The clocks haven’t even been put back yet. It’s not been wellie weather for schoolkids. We haven’t had a truly cold night.

Yet everyone seems to have had their heating on.

When I was a lad even the schools weren’t allowed to fire up the boiler until after half-term week.

Maybe the warm environment, combined with people staying in and sitting inside steamed-up public transport is the key?

Or perhaps the first warning shots from mother nature that winter is finally on its way reminded people to stock up on their vitamin C and menthol pastilles ... just in case.

That rush to the pharmacy counter might have combined with the snifflers and splutterers to cause the queues this week.

Whatever it is, I’d wager that a healthy outlook on life might count just as much as any over-the-counter proprietary brand.

First published in the Lincolnshire Echo. 

Disney on Ice, Nottingham Arena

If you're a fan of Disney's favourite stories, this was the night to get out with the kids to see the best of the last 100 years – yes, 100 years – of magic.

Full of memorable music and lyrics, this show brought the usual two-dimensional experience to full-colour 3D life.

It's a hit because all of the children can sing along, and so can the adults.

We enjoyed a whole host of Disney legends, including Aladdin, Nemo, many of the princesses, and the cast of Toy Story, who after their recent cinematic outing got the biggest cheer of the night.

The sound quality didn't help much, though.

The It's a Small World number brought the first half to a successful close, revisiting the opening day of Disneyland Park in 1955. The colourful celebration of fun worldwide for children everywhere hit the spot, the moral of the story being that everyone shares the same hopes and dreams. Proof indeed that the magic of Disney brings everyone together.

The second half featured a skit from Mickey Mouse, then and appearance by Pinocchio, with some of the youngsters a little confused by Jiminy Cricket, as he's not on the telly much nowadays – but they went along with it, because the adventures were so good.

Mulan and The Incredibles built the excitement up until we had the musical climax with classics from The Lion King.

The finale brought all the main characters back onto the ice for their farewell, then the biggest spectacular surprise – fireworks from the famous Disney castle.

All in all, a good night, even if we were left wondering where Tinkerbell was!