“It was the last straw!” Have you ever used this saying? It is an ancient Arabic proverb dating back to a time when we used camels, or a similar animal like a horse or ox, for carrying our heavy loads.
The dictionary defines it as the very last thing one experiences in a long series of mishaps or disappointments that tips the balance to a final loss of patience, temper, trust, or hope. It is an apt metaphor I like to apply regarding our health, when a health problem emerges suddenly, or a sports injury occurs without any particular accident or trauma. Indeed, a cataclysmic failure of health can occur without clear warning. Oddly, the last correlated and reasonable cause – “last straw” – often seems relatively not potent enough to cause the problem on its own. Think of a woman who gets breast cancer after a stressful period in life; the stress is not enough to “cause” this is it? Or a guy gets back into soccer and his knee ligament gives out on a simple fall; it is not just that he is 40 and out of shape now? A 46 year old woman becomes clinically depressed after missing a promotion at work; she cannot blame menopause on her hypersensitivity, can she?
