Category: Motivation

Fear Is Not A Diabetic Symptom

Having Type-1 Diabetes involves a lot of preparation and planning ahead. Even simple trips out of the house or a full 8-hour work shift requires good memory on my part, including blood testing equipment, fast-acting carbohydrates and extra equipment in the event my pump’s infusion set fails. It can be arduous, especially if you’re dashing out in a hurry. Light knows, I’ve had many times in my life were I’ve gotten to where I’m going and suddenly remembered, “Damn, I forgot to bring an insulin vial!”

For someone who isn’t QUITE as ancient as I am, and hasn’t had the opportunity to go through the ups and downs of Type-1, the task can seem daunting. What’s worse is that to some, the task can even be overwhelming or frightening, as some Type-1’s may believe that they face serious complications or death if they forget something, leading to self-isolation in the face of that belief. Although this is certainly a possibility, life for a Diabetic becomes much easier once you realize that it’s also the extreme. And a rare one, at that.

Essentially, almost everything you need for proper Diabetes therapy can be purchased over-the-counter. Even insulin. It’s been this way for years, and there’s even been a growing trend of Americans crossing the Canadian border to purchase insulin, as our prices seem to be significantly better than theirs. My point is that depending on one’s financial situation, running out of insulin is pretty much the worst thing that can happen, and even THAT has some solutions.

You can walk into any pharmacy and buy a vial of insulin without a prescription. That’s one of the nice things. Blood testing strips, lancets and devices for injecting insulin are all available over-the-counter, making for a certain level of safe comfort if you should happen to be travelling and forgot some of your supplies. Obviously, you’ll have to deal with retail cost if you don’t have a prescription or coverage. And pump supplies will usually cost you your first born, as well as a pint of your blood.

One good example would be my trip to New Brunswick in September of 2019. I was only there for a few days for a job interview. I was contacted by a different agency in New Brunswick and a second interview was scheduled for the following week. I now found myself in a situation where my pump supplies would run out, right around the time I’d be trying to board a plane home. I couldn’t chance it, so I walked into a local pharmacy and purchased a vial of Lantus, which I hadn’t used since getting on the pump. I had no issues walking into a pharmacy and simply buying the vial, out of pocket.

Because this is me, and life likes to see how much I can handle, there’s an aspect of over-the-counter purchases that tend to be a rather burly thorn in my posterior. In Canada, insulin is in the Schedule 2 drug class. This means that not only is it meant to be kept behind the counter and can’t be accessed without speaking to a pharmacist, they require your full profile in order to ascertain if you’re getting the “correct” insulin in the “correct” doses. As if the person buying the insulin WOULDN’T know that…

If you’re ever-so-slightly paranoid like I am, you’re not a fan of giving out your name, date of birth and home address to every random pharmacy that you may need to buy insulin from. And to be quite honest, one could argue that it should be their right to purchase an over-the-counter item without having to share a bunch of personal information. Right? Maybe? Or is that only me? It’s caused me some difficulty, in the past.

A few years ago, my wife and I had travelled to visit her parents. I ran out of Humalog towards the end of our trip, and I decided that rather than packing us up and heading home a couple of days early that I’d simply go purchase a bottle. I walked into the local Walmart and asked the pharmacist for a vial of Humalog. She then proceeded to start asking for all my personal info, which had never happened to me on previous attempts to purchase insulin.

I explained to her that I had no desire to provide my personal information as I didn’t live in the area and simply wanted to buy a vial of insulin. She made a big production in saying that she had no way to sell it to me without entering my information. I explained that I’ve managed pharmacies in the past, and since the insulin box has a barcode like every other item, all she needed to do was scan it and charge me the price. She refused service. I was taken aback. Rather that “Karen” out on her, I left and took my business elsewhere

Despite the fact that there can be obstacles, what did you notice from those two examples? The end result is that there were always options. And there always will be. In the first example, I had access to plenty of pharmacies and resources. Even in the second example, we could have simply driven home, which would have ultimately solved the crisis, had I not been able to secure insulin elsewhere. I used insulin as my examples because let’s agree that you can likely get by without testing your blood for a couple of days, if need be. You shouldn’t but it won’t cause the damage that being out of insulin will.

Over almost the past four decades of having Type-1 Diabetes, I’ve known doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, police officers, olympic athletes and even professional football players who have Type-1 Diabetes. The take-home lesson is that our condition doesn’t prevent us from enjoying any aspect of life that we may be seeking out. And it SHOULDN’T. Yes, there’s a lot to think about. Yes, there’s a lot you have to drag around. But none of that should prevent you from doing the things you want to do. You can’t let Diabetes force you to live in fear. ☯

A Type-1’s Naming Day…

Okay, I’ll be the first one to admit that maybe I need to lay off the YouTube for a while, because I personify the type of person who slips down the rabbit hole and finds way more than he expects to. Then I keep watching, and watching… And watching… But I found this video interesting, because it involves someone I’ve been watching on television over the past few months that I wasn’t even aware has Type-1 Diabetes! This catches me with a bit of egg on my face, because one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone tells me, “You don’t LOOK Diabetic…” What the fuck is someone “supposed” to look like if they have Diabetes?

The video depicts the Diabetes journey of American actress Mary Mouser, who has most recently played Samantha Larusso, the daughter to protagonist (depending on your perspective of the storyline) Daniel Larusso, in the popular web series, Cobra Kai. Now, being a long-time fan of the original Karate Kid movies, I jumped on this series without hesitation and watched both available seasons within days and am greatly anticipating the third season, which is said to be coming out in early 2021.

In the included YouTube video, Mouser describes her discovery of Type-1 and how it affected her life. She was diagnosed in 2009 at the age of 13, which I can say from having many friends in the same boat, is incredibly rough. I had the benefit of being diagnosed at the tender age of 4, which means I had barely a clue as to what the hell was going on. But you can see Mouser become visibly emotional at certain points in the video, and it definitely brings it home for me. Check it out:

Mouser talks about the tenth anniversary of her diagnosis and the video was posted on YouTube by Mouser herself, last year. I can’t help by note the similarities in the fact that although she’s only portraying it in a role, she plays a character who grew up in a karate environment. This rings true with a great deal of my own upbringing, as I grew up training in karate, as well.

I was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes in 1982, after passing out in a bowl of Froot Loops. Honestly. That’s what got me diagnosed. There were a number of symptoms that presented themselves for months before that incident, including weight fluctuations, severe mood swings and I even started wetting the bed again. One of the big problems with having a brother with Epilepsy, kidney failure and Fanconi Syndrome (a post for another day), is that my aches and pains often went ignored. Despite all of these symptoms, nothing appeared to be “seriously” wrong, so it was chalked up to growing pains or being a moody kid (which I was).

This wasn’t a slight on my parents’ part, it was simply the result of my brother constantly being on death’s doorstep where I was not. At least not that they knew of… Apparently, they were wrong. Imagine passing out on a Tuesday and waking up on a Wednesday… Of the following week! That’s how my journey started. And it was all downhill, from there.

When I woke from that first incident, I had severe Diabetic Ketoacidosis and my blood sugars were being slowly lowered and I was being rehydrated by way of an IV infusion. I had a number of family members present, including my parents, brother and grandparents. They already knew what the doctor hadn’t yet told me: I had Type-1 Diabetes. My life and my future were effectively changed, forever.

Over the two weeks that followed, I was taught a number of things including how to test my blood sugars, how to take insulin injections, dieting (which basically just involved avoiding sugar) and what would be involved in my day-to-day life for the rest of my life. It was hectic and stressful. I can admit that at the young age of 4, I only understood a small percentage of it. A lot of it went over my head, which created strange combination of indifference mixed with anxiety.

To my mother’s credit, she practiced injecting saline water into her own arms as opposed to practicing on an orange, which is what doctors and educators would provide, back in the day. Her perspective was that she wouldn’t allow anything to be done to her child that she hadn’t experienced herself. She bruised herself up pretty good, before starting to help me take my daily injections.

It was a disgustingly rough journey and over the years that followed, which included no less than 5 comas (the longest of which lasted almost two weeks), multiple changes in therapies and doctors and constant adjustments, I faced the inevitable lack in most of the advantages that kids my age enjoyed. I never joined sports, never had sleepovers and never enjoyed the usual social normalcies that kids my age had. But I adjusted and fought through all of it. My brother, who is now deceased, saved my life in almost every instance of the comas I mentioned, as he shared a room with me and would be the one to alert my parents that I was in distress.

In 1988, I faced a situation that no child should ever have to. I was told I was going to die. It wasn’t said in those exact words, but the reality sunk in regardless. Severe Diabetes complications including insulin resistance were causing my body to fail. Doctors really had no solution at the time, other than changing up my insulin type, which did absolutely nothing. Insulin resistance can be dangerous, since it prevents the proper use of glucose in your body.

That’s when I took matters into my own hands and joined karate. I started taking responsibility for my own diet and fitness and started to develop myself, physically. It worked for me. It may not work for everyone. But the important thing is to keep fighting and find what works for you. The nay-sayers over the years, have stated that they don’t believe that martial arts and fitness would help overcome medical complications. But the question is, how could it not? There may be no cure for Type-1 Diabetes, but you can still kick its ass. There are tons of ways to improve your health and stretch your life expectancy as opposed to what we faced, even 20 or 30 years ago. Keep fighting. Keep looking for a way.

And if Mary’s video inspired you or touched a chord, be sure to check her out on Cobra Kai, which is currently available on Netflix. There are only two seasons, with Season three coming out soon, but it’s definitely a hard-hitting show that covers martial arts, karate, the social condition and stars a lot of talented people from the 1980’s and modern day. ☯

A Little Something To Inspire…

I quote a lot of articles and posts in my blog. This is because I’m not a doctor, dietitian or fitness expert, although 32 years of intensive martial arts training HAS to count for something. But for the most part, I speak from the heart and try to be as genuine as possible while quoting sites and people that I know will add some credibility to what I say. Last weekend, I was free-falling down the YouTube rabbit one one night, since my wife was out of town and my 5-year old was fast asleep. And I found a video that moved me to tears…

Those who know me well are quite aware that I’m not a man who exudes emotion easily. But this man’s journey did it for me… The man in the video is named Vance Hinds. An assistant DA in Texas, he was living an extremely unhealthy life and weighed in at 475 pounds, which is over 265 pounds heavier than I’m currently sitting. Hinds was ironically first inspired to lose weight by a comedian named Burt Kreischer.

Although I don’t know why a comedian, of all people, would motivate someone to lose weight (I haven’t researched this person), Hinds reached out to a former professional wrestler named Diamond Dallas Page. I’m familiar with Page, having watched him wrestle throughout my 20’s and my early 30’s, and I know that he contributes a significant amount of time to helping other people achieve their weight-loss goals as a motivational coach.

I’m linking the YouTube video below. I don’t claim ownership, nor do I have any rights to this video. As I said, I just happened to land on it while surfing YouTube, one night. The video is only about 5:30 minutes and you can watch Hinds’ journey from 475 pounds to 277 pounds, for a total loss of 198 pounds. It’s pretty inspirational…

This motivates me. Here’s a guy that did it simply for the sake of improving his health and his overall lifestyle. No endorsements, no financially charged motivation; he did it for himself and his family. It brings my own journey into perspective. In 1988-89, I joined karate in order to help me overcome insulin resistance and Diabetes complications that threatened to end my life before my 20’s. I succeeded.

Now, as I move into my 40’s, I’ll admit that my own weight and living habits have fallen to the wayside. I’ve tried a number of different things to overcome these issues. And I believe that it’s important to try as many different things as possible; it allows us to find the path that’s right for us. But seeing Vance’s weight loss journey has made me realize that losing the 20 or 30 pounds I need in order to be healthier is small potatoes in comparison to what this man just went through.

When I attended the police academy in 2009, I weighed in at 185 pounds. By the time I graduated six months later, intensive training, exhaustion and diet brought me down to 165 pounds. It was the lightest I had ever weighed, at that point in my life. I’d like to say I felt great, but the exhaustion was palpable. Within two years of walking away from the academy, I broke the 200-pound threshold and I’ve been fighting to dip below it, ever since.

Obviously, Diabetes plays a significant role in how my metabolism functions and the weight I carry. That being said, I’ve seen Type-1’s who have been in the “skinny” category. Am I trying to be skinny? Fuck, no! I believe in carrying some mass, it’s one of the only way s to maintain strength. But I think that dropping some weight and finding a way to keep it off should be possible. In 2014, I was down in the low 190’s and that simply involved consistent cardio and weight workouts and a “reasonable” diet of three regulated meals a day.

Body image is an important part of who we are. You shouldn’t aspire to be who you see in magazines or on the internet, but rather who you feel you genuinely are. We can all gain inspiration from other people’s journey. The important part is finding a way to make it work for you, and to achieve the goals that you aspire to in order rot be healthy and happy. Hopefully, you all find that path. ☯

Don’t Stop… Believin’…🎶

The past few months have had quite a negative impact on my overall health and fitness. Considering the flood damage to my basement, which took away my workout space, to having everything we had IN the basement moved out to the garage, thereby taking away my backup workout space, my four to six workouts a week have pretty much melted down to nonexistence. Include the fact that the temperatures here in Saskatchewan have fallen into the minuses and there’s snow and frost on the ground, making it impractical to go cycling and the fact that my dojo still hasn’t re-opened due to COVID-19, and I’ve slowly been turning into a couch potato.

My wife and I had started a routine where we would do yoga stretching in the mornings, once Nathan had gone to school. But depending on work obligations and how fussy our 1-year old infant might be on a given day, even those have slowly taken the wayside. It also doesn’t help that recent months have seen me include CGM and Auto Mode into the mix, and any new Diabetic therapy always has the potential to be touch-and-go during the first months. So working out with all of this going on has been a challenge. And the results are visible and very much felt…

I often write about all the benefits and the good things that happen when you work out consistently, but most people don’t consider the effects that may happen when you stop. Or even if you never started in the first place. I know some people that have essentially never worked out before and never had the inclination, as they’re in good health and their weight seems manageable. Does this mean they don’t NEED to work out? Absolutely not; everyone should include fitness in their weekly routine in one form or another.

There are a number of things that will happen to you physically, as well as psychologically, if you suddenly stop working out and exercising. There are plenty of good articles online that will describe the exact details, but I’m providing my personal list, based on my metabolism and the fact I have Type-1 Diabetes:

  1. Blood sugar control will be altered: This is a pretty big one for someone with Type-1 Diabetes, because it took me all summer to condition my system and get my blood sugar levels controlled to endure 70-kilometre bike runs or 2-hour karate workouts. Now that those have ground to a halt, some of my blood sugar readings have been higher than they should be, since I’m no longer exercising and burning as many calories as I used to. Which brings me to my next point…;
  2. Your body will store more fat: You use two primary forms of energy in your body. Carbohydrates, which is the immediate energy source you obtain by eating your meals. The second are your fat stores, which are only accessed during rigorous exercise. Carbs are a temporary energy source and need to be constantly replenished, whereas fat stores offer a wonderful amount of energy but won’t burn unless you do. So less exercise means that fat will more readily stick to your body;
  3. Cholesterol and Insulin resistance: Lack of exercise means bad cholesterol goes up and good cholesterol goes down. Brutal, right? That’s without taking diet into consideration. And your insulin sensitivity will decrease as well, meaning you’ll need more insulin to process the same amount of carbs as before you stopped exercising;
  4. Your endurance will vanish: Your endurance is one of the first things to start decreasing when you stop working out. The only silver lining to this one, is that it’s quick to come back once you commit yourself to training again. But it definitely makes it harder to work out as intensely as you did before, which is why it’s important to maintain certain levels;
  5. Your mood and sleep will be altered: I could go on a long rant about the hormones and endorphins that are released in the body during exercise, but that would be a hell of a long rant and that isn’t why we’re here, today. Suffice it to say that quitting exercise will adversely affect your mood, make you more prone to seasonal depression, irritability and feelings of worthlessness. Not least of which is the fact that your sleep pattern will be all screwed up. Ever notice your level of exhaustion after a long night of cycling or working out? Once you’ve taken that hot shower, it doesn’t take long for a person to pass out once their head hits the pillow;
  6. Your self-image will be affected: Let’s be honest with each other… You may not have a goal in mind to join the olympics or look like a supermodel. Perhaps you do and if so, good for you. But your fitness is your responsibility and you only get out of it what you’ve put in. And one must admit that having that gut start poking out when you’ve been used to being in decent shape can have a negative effect on your self-image.

People work out and exercise for different reasons. Some do it for health, some do it for sport, some even teach particular skills, like martial arts. And there’s really no bad reason for working out, but there are bad reasons for stopping. Life and obligations get in the way and let’s be honest; some days we just don’t feel like it. But it’s like trying to ice skate uphill… sometimes it’s a slippery slope, but you’ll never reach the top unless you keep on pushing. ☯

“Maybe I Won’t Be All The Things That I Want To Be”

Life doesn’t care about your plan. There is no such thing as an expected schedule in nature, and all things happen within the scope of one’s life, not a specific timeframe. One of the sadder things I’ve seen in my life is friends or family who are rushing and stressing to reach certain milestones in their lives because they believe it’s expected of them or they HAVE to do it, in order to be considered socially normal. Well, screw that noise…

The reality is that everyone’s journey is different and everyone’s life is unique. What works well for one may not work well for another, and vice versa. Just because the folks you graduated high school with, have Bachelor’s Degrees, spouses and children by the time they’re 30 years old doesn’t mean that’s a standard one should aspire to. There are no hard and fast rules that say you HAVE to get a certain job or you NEED to get married and have kids by a certain age. Things will happen for you in their own time and trying to manifest destiny won’t get you there faster; it will simply cause you more stress and suffering.

One good example I can think of, are an aunt and uncle of mine in New Brunswick. They’ve been together for over 30 years. They’ve never gotten married, but they’ve always been together, own a house together (which they built themselves) and have always lived as man and wife, despite not being married. Sure, they’ve been poked and teased by family throughout the years with the usual question of, “Why aren’t you married yet?” But life worked for them the way they were doing it, even if it fell outside the typical social paradigm.

Now, they went ahead and got married, a couple of years ago when they found out that it would make things easier for end-of-life requirements and for legal issues arising from either one of them passing away. A pretty morbid reason to get married! But realistically, they were happy with the life they had and they suffered no greater because of it.

The flip side to this concept is that BECAUSE life doesn’t care about your plan, you may not always end up doing what you want to do or being what you want to be. I’d love to live in a two-storey log cabin on the side of a fresh-water lake, spending my days meditating, reading and doing karate. But instead, I’m writing this post sitting in a house I can’t seem to sell while sledgehammers are diligently tearing apart my basement for foundation repairs.

The important thing to remember is to continue to work towards the goals you WANT, not the goals you think you NEED or that others may have implanted in your head. Certain key people in my life were of the opinion I should never have gotten into my chosen profession but this was my journey, not theirs. I shudder to think where I’d be today, had I listened to some of the nay-sayers. It may not all work out perfect, but the good news is it will work out. Life is a “one day at a time” kind of puzzle. ☯

Do What You Love

Almost twenty years ago (from what I recall), Sensei made a rather drastic change in his life. He had spent the previous decades in various levels of law enforcement and had been working at the head correctional officer for a municipal jail. At some point, he faced some work-related issues that ironically, are eerily similar to my own. But he took this opportunity to knuckle down and try to find something he wanted to do that would make him happy.

I remember him coming to karate class and being full of piss and vinegar (more so than usual) and talking about the research he was doing and the studies he had begun. I didn’t understand most of it at the time, but ultimately he was studying to transition into a career involving Chinese Medicine, Herbology and Acupressure. Much to my dismay, he transformed his home dojo into a clinic and once he graduated all the certifications he needed in order to do so, he bang taking in clients and stepped down from his current career.

I say it was to my dismay, because I had passed a number of belt tests in that dojo and changing it into a clinic meant I wouldn’t be passing my black belt there. Which I didn’t. Unfortunately. But hey, good for him! I asked him why he chose acupressure over the more popular and recognized acupuncture, to which he replied that he preferred the personal touch it involved, as opposed to jabbing someone with a bunch of surgical needles.

My point is that once his clinic was in full swing and things were picking up, I asked him how things were going. He said, “I’m doing something I love and enjoy, five days a week. It provides me with income to live and I get to continue doing it. So ask yourself, if I love what I do, and the money is coming in on its own, when am I doing actual ‘work’?” His choice of words and the look of serenity on his face have not only echoed in the back of my mind over the years, I’ve been hearing it prominently over the past two or three.

“Choose A Job You Love, And You Will Never Have To Work A Day in Your Life.”

– Confucius

It can be difficult, painful even, to try and find a career that you want to do with something that you LOVE to do. But if you manage to find it, you no longer have to concern yourself with money as it will come on its own. You simply need to keep doing what you love; whether that means owning your own business, being in law enforcement or working as a mortician. Not everything if for everybody, so the challenge comes from finding what’s right for you.

To this day, Sensei still has his clinic open. Pandemic issues aside, of course. In fact, his choice of career inspired his son to study and take up acupressure and open a clinic of his own, as well. Besides doing what they love, it also puts them in that coveted employment category of being business owners, which has its shares of ups and downs, of course. But the point is that if you go into work everyday, unhappy and unsatisfied with what you’re doing, maybe it’s time for a change. There’s like to be something better waiting you, just around the corner. ☯

Who Are You?

That’s not just a title; it’s an actual question! Take a moment and ask yourself, who the fuck am I? Do you know yourself, inside and out? One of the defining characteristics of humanity is that we have sentience. We are self-aware. Ask yourself, what are you, once this body ceases to exist? Do we simply wink out of existence? Of course not! Even science has proved that something about us is energy-based, and energy can only be transformed or transferred, never destroyed. That means that whether your beliefs are religious or fact-based, there’s something of an after-life. That’s right, folks! It’s gonna be “one of those” posts, so buckle up!

Why is knowing yourself so important? Well, according to an article posted by PsychologyToday.com, “When you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to resist bad habits and develop good ones.” IS that it? Or am I missing the ultimate lesson, here? There’s a lot more to it than that, depending on your point of view. And of course I’m gonna explain a bunch of it…

Knowing yourself is the penultimate aspect of life; the ultimate aspect is to do good and eliminate suffering, but I won’t get into that today. Without knowing yourself, you can’t know others. And by proxy, this makes it very difficult to help, associate or befriend others. But more importantly, how can you hope to navigate through life without knowing who you are? And what is knowing oneself? Is it simply acknowledging your genealogy? Knowing your ancestry? Or is it something more primal?

To be honest, I don’t have an answer. I’m mostly venting some of my free-floating thoughts that have focused on something my wife mentioned last week, which precipitated this post. I like to think that I know myself pretty well, yet every once in a while I surprise even myself. And I think that’s the important aspect: a person’s journey of self-discovery really never ends. The day you finish discovering yourself is the day that this life is over. Hopefully, I still have a few more decades of self-discovery ahead. ☯

You Can’t Go Back Again…

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you can’t go back again. What’s been is gone, with nothing left but what’s to come. Although I’ve always lived my life on the concept that one should never have regrets, there’s nothing wrong with missing certain aspects of one’s past. It’s encouraged, in fact. After all, as philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Of course, I believe he was referring mostly to being mindful of the lessons learned from our mistakes, so as to avoid repeating those mistakes in the future.

I was on a popular blog site this afternoon, when I came across a post about what people miss about the 90’s. The 1990’s were an exciting decade for me. I was never a fan of “boom-chick” music that seemed to be all the rave (see what I did there?) in the 90’s, preferring the more classic versions of true rock that emerged in the 1980’s, despite the hair and scrotum-strangling jeans that came with it.

It got me thinking about the specific things I miss about the 1990’s, and since I haven’t written one of my wonderful lists in quite a while, I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity. Without further ado, here is my top seven things I miss about the 1990’s:

  1. No Social Media: I’m coming’ out swinging on the first one and it may not be a popular or shared opinion. But I miss the days when social media DIDN’T rule the world. The likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were barely an idea in some nerd’s brain at this point, and life seemed all the better for it. People actually did things together in groups (imagine that?) instead of spending nights up chatting online;
  2. Gaming Systems: Oh, to have an original NES system at my disposal… I use an online emulator to play some of my old favourites like Super Mario Bros. 3, but it’s just not the same. And yes, I totally get the irony of bashing on technology while admitting I use it to revisit the past. Let’s not go there! The arrival of the N64 changed gaming forever with the two best games for group parties: 007: GoldenEye and Super Mario Kart 64. It always felt as though we could play those games forever and never get tired. Games these days are all purchased on one’s phone or tablet. It lacks a certain “je ne sais quoi…”;
  3. Television Was Better: Many may argue on this point, and I’ll admit I’d have difficulty living without the miracle that is the MCU, but television in the 1990’s was LIT! TGIF lineup on Friday nights, movies that didn’t have a bunch of CGI thrown in and if you missed an episode of your favourite show, you were pretty much fucked as you couldn’t go back and rewatch it like you can on streaming services today. But the overall content just felt more real and genuine;
  4. There Were No Cell Phones: Smart phones have made our lives easier in so many ways, I’ve lost count. Emailing, scheduling, surfing the internet… Not to mention using it as a phone! But there was something liberating about knowing you could leave the house and not be pestered by texts, calls and emails at all hours of the day. Just because it’s convenient doesn’t make it good! It seems as though there’s simply no way to just “get away” these days, short of turning your phone off. And then you have to explain to folks why your phone was off and you ignored their contact. It’s a mess;
  5. Things were cheaper: I’m probably wrong about this, but the 1990’s felt like the last decade before inflation starting bending us over a log and jamming a red-hot poker up in there! Back in the mid-90’s when I got my driver’s licence (and purchased my own first vehicle), gasoline was only 56 cents per litre! Can you imagine? I had no idea how good I had it! Gasoline is currently 1.22 cents per litre, and when it dropped into the 90’s during there pandemic, people lost their fuckin’ minds! I used to work at a Catholic church’s bingo hall every Thursday night, collecting bingo cards for $15. On Tuesdays, I would walk or bike to my local corner store and purchase all four latest Superman comic titles, as well as a diet soda and a bag of chips for about $5. Financially, I was living large! Nowadays, it pretty much costs the $5 to purchase ONE comic book, let alone three of them with snacks;
  6. I Was Home: In a lot of ways, I don’t miss being a kid or a teenager. Living under someone else’s rules has never been my forte, but I had no idea how good life was. Everything was provided, I was safe and comfortable and I was with my family with my whole life ahead of me, and I had my Sensei and my karate school available to me. Although many would agree that being an adult and making your own way through life holds its own aspects of freedom, youth brought its own freedom, as well;
  7. Everything Was Fresh And New: Most people who think back on their adolescence will find memories of everything they did for the first time. Getting their driver’s licence, that first vehicle, first job, first girlfriend, first everything with said girlfriend… cough, cough… But now, the stress of adult life has watered down most things. I remember getting my first car. It was an absolute piece of shit. A two-door 1986 Toyota hatch back, 3-speed manual transmission. Yes, you read that right: 3-speed! But I loved that car to the moon and back, despite it’s poor condition and for performance. In April of 2018, I purchased a new-to-me sports coupe because my previous vehicle’s transmission exploded on the highway (you know the car, it’s the one I wrote about in Goodbye, Sweet Car…🎶). And all I could think of at the time, was how I now had a new bill to pay every month. Some of the innocence is lost.

Folks, we can’t go back again. This much is certain. But we can always look back fondly on the good things that we experienced, even if at times we didn’t realize they were good things. Every emotion, every action and every experience we went through in our past helped to define the people we are today. And unless you’re a career criminal or intentionally make other people suffer, who you are is pretty great.

What are some of the things you miss most about your adolescence? Feel free to leave your best memory in my comments section. ☯

Excuse Me, Have You Seen My Dojo?

Most people have been adversely affected by COVID-19 over the past six to eight months. Either their finances or their jobs have been affected, people unable to pay their mortgages or rental fees, not to mention the poor souls who have contracted the virus and those who have unfortunately succumbed to it. Some areas of Canada have been doing fine, with the virus practically non-existent. Other areas haven’t been so lucky (like Ontario and Quebec).

But some of the smaller things can have a big impact on a person’s day-to-day life as well. For myself, one of the biggest losses I’ve suffered throughout the pandemic is the closing of the karate school I frequent. Although fortunate and grateful that my job, finances and home have not been affected and that no one in my family has contracted COVID-19, Tuesdays and Thursdays bring about a reminder that not only do I no longer have a dojo to train in, but the world is a long way from returning to normal.

Riding on the coat tails of yesterday’s post, the colder weather has had a profound effect on my level of motivation. Every joint in my body has started to ache every morning, thanks to 32 years of intensive training that’s caused wear and tear on almost everything. My feet are cold due to lack of circulation, thanks to Type-1 Diabetes. My sleep has always been horrible, but it’s all the worse now, with the fact that the sun doesn’t rise for almost an hour AFTER my alarm goes off.

All in all, the cold weather and pandemic have had a profound effect on my level of fitness and motivation. It’s already starting to be too cold for extended bicycle rides, even if I could sneak in a short one here and there in the afternoons. And with the renovation of our basement starting in a couple of weeks, we’ve started to move most of our belongings from the basement to the garage, thereby taking away my little “at home dojo” that I recently wrote about. I’ve also started to indulge in morning naps when my 1-year old takes his (my 5-year old is gone to school), which is a terrible habit to get into as my body has come to expect it. It’s gonna suck when I go back to regular work!

Can I train at home? Absolutely. DO I train at home? Most certainly. But there’s a lot to be said for training in the dojo environment. Not only to you get to feed off everyone’s else energy and motivation, thereby increasing your own, there’s a camaraderie that one gets to enjoy that can’t be found elsewhere. Unlike working out in a gym or by yourself, social interaction within the dojo is basically a requirement. Although not impossible, it’s quite difficult to train for an entire class without interacting with at least a few of your classmates.

The selfish side of me is disgruntled at the fact my dojo has remained closed throughout all of this. Considering the dojo runs on the school schedule and schools have let in, and the few students we have ensures a better chance at social distancing and lower percentage of contracting the virus than most classroom settings currently have, in some ways it makes little sense. The sensible side of me understands that a karate school is a far cry from being a “necessary service,” and that it would be an unnecessary risk to allow classes to resume.

There are some sources that have expressed that the world may factually never completely return to normal and that social distancing practices will become the new standard. If this is so, perhaps the dojo will never reopen. That would truly be heart-breaking, as it could mean the severe decline of modern martial arts and the possibilities that some arts may be lost. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I need to find my own motivation and continue to forge ahead, feeling that small twinge of loss every week when Tuesdays and Thursdays roll around. ☯

Cold Thoughts

If there’s one thing that’s usually consistent, it’s the changing of the seasons. Maybe not consistent in the fact that it always starts happening on the exact same date every year, but one could bet good money that autumn will follow summer and winter will follow autumn. So on and so forth. Although most people I know aren’t exactly huge fans of the cold, the seasons bring about the same process where most people complain about the heat in the summer and complain about the cold in the winter.

Personally, I’m a fan of autumn. Not only is the weather cooler so that I’m not sweating bullets when I’m outside, I’m not forced to shovel the copious amounts of snow that drift into my vehicle due to Saskatchewan winds. The autumn also brings a lot of beauty with the changing of the leaves and it almost feels like there’s a change in the atmosphere. Because there is. Even though we’re not in the swing of winter yet and there’s no snow on the ground (at least here in Saskatchewan), the weather has already started to drop and this has some measurable effects on the body and one’s mood.

First thing’s first: let’s dispel the old rumour that the cold weather causes a person’s blood to thicken. Not only is that total bullshit, your blood actually has a better chance of thickening in the hot weather, due to the dehydrating of fluids in the blood. But the colder weather does seem to bring a yearning for curling up and binge-watching a show with various pumpkin spice-flavoured snacks, compulsive napping and most importantly, lack of motivation.

That last one is rather important, especially if you have Type-1 Diabetes. Motivation is a key element in maintaining one’s eating habits, sleeping habits and fitness habits; all of which are affected by colder weather. One of the main conditions that help to make things worse is the fact that the days get shorter and darkness hangs around for longer. This causes change in our moods, appetite and sleep cycles, which brings us to the next problem: Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Yes, cold weather can bring on an actual disorder and it can play hell on your system. According to an article posted by the Mayo Clinic, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, can cause lower levels in energy, lack of motivation or mood, difficulties concentrating and loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. There are a lot more symptoms, and I’d invite you to click the Mayo Clinic’s link to see them all.

The problem with SAD, especially during the colder seasons (the article does show that there’s a summer version as well) is that it can lead to nasty things like overeating, weight gain, lack of energy and flat out, good old fashioned laziness. As previously mentioned, all of these things are absolutely horrible for people in general, but even more so if you have Diabetes.

Although most health professionals will tell you that you can eat whatever you want so long as you take the appropriate level of insulin for it, that doesn’t protect you form the weight gain you may experience from doing so. If your sleep is affected, your blood sugar levels will be affected. If you have a lack of energy and motivation, the lack of exercise will also adversely affect your blood sugar levels and your overall health.

It can get tough to focus on routine and the status quo, when cold weather kicks in and all a person wants to do is curl up under a warm blanket and binge-watch Star Trek reruns for hours on end. No? Just me? Alrighty, then… But it’s important to maintain proper diet, sleep and exercise, Diabetic or not, in order to maintain one’s health and well-being. Especially since the winter season has the highest percentage of depression of the rest of the year. With the colder weather approaching, self-care and keeping a routine is most important. ☯