I recently attended a lecture tiltled “What do you want to know about Tenerife” hosted by Guy Devos at Westhaven Bay. It was my first introduction ‘in the flesh’ with Guy, finally a “real face” after the different chats we already had. In my opinion he may rightfully be called ‘the driving force of Tenerife’, and more so if you know that he also manages the Facebook group ‘Tenerife voor Nederlandstaligen’ (Tenerife for Dutch speaking people) with over 25,000 members.
He concluded his – very interesting – lecture with a piece of reading from his book and several points got stuck in my head. Even though I do not (yet) belong in the group “readers under the age of 55 “, there was still a lot of recognition (familiarity).
I have been taking it easy for about a year now and that has nothing to do with “retiring”, but just with “going about live differently” and focusing on what my body needs.
The word “Tenerifitis” is no longer unknown to me, on the contrary … I suffer a lot when I am in Belgium in the winter months! ?
But, with Guy’s approval, I copy the text.
Read and check whether you are (already or not yet) suffering from this in one form or another … ?
Forbidden for young people.
Older people go to sleep three hours after they dozed off on their couch while the news was on for the sixth time on TV.
A simple job can also take forever. Why not? There is plenty of time …
An extensive brunch is always the start of a normal day. And they also do not tidy up the garage, the basement or the attic because they know that the children will want to stack their stuff there.
Retired people describe being retired as a “never-ending coffee break.”
What do they do in the end? The well-founded answer is simple: nothing from Monday to Friday and resting on Saturday and Sunday.
And young people don’t understand that. I don’t blame them, their time to understand this will come.
If we extend this way of thinking about life on a sub-tropical island such as Tenerife, then an extra dimension is added. The inconveniences that arise because of emotions. Phantom pain is one of them. A doctor-specialist explains it briefly and understandably … You are still there and you are already missing it – feeling is a condition that is more present in the elderly than in the young.
In previous articles I have already described the following, but because it fits perfectly with this article I want to talk about it a little longer.
Tenerifitis is the Latin medical name of an incurable disease that only occurs in Tenerife, a disease that affects thinking, feeling, and acting. It always starts just before you return to your home country. Not life threatening, but incurable and there is currently no medicine available to cure this condition. Admirably, the symptoms disappear immediately upon entering the island and it reappears immediately upon leaving. If this feeling comes over you, then you suffer from the Tenerifitis syndrome. Fortunately you won’t die from it.
The first symptoms manifest themselves in phantom pains. After that it gets worse and worse, further inconveniences follow. This is a condition with which everyone can be infected, but for which the elderly are extra sensitive. Over time, the attacks get worse and become more severe. No medicine is known in the pharmaceutical world that can combat these symptoms, or cure them. And don’t be tempted by alternative medicines or a visit to a charlatan: it doesn’t help! It is a microbiological disorder that is not yet included in medical literature.
But there is a bright spot. You can soften the side effects of Tenerifitis in two ways: you stay on the island as much as possible or you regularly read this and other texts about Tenerife. It helps; the more time you spend on it, the better for your inner self, the sooner you will relax. It is a therapeutic fact that you can cling to when the Tenerifemicrobe comes over you.
This way you can also move yourself to the island without having to travel one kilometer and that is good for your wallet.
