Category: Motivation

Cause And Effect ⚖️

I used to love physics in high school. Yes, I was one of those freaks; I even took some of the advanced physics classes in my senior year for extra credit. A part of me gets a headache every time I even THINK about some of the concepts we studied in those classes, while another part of me absolutely immersed myself in it and considered it the highlight of my high school years. And no, before you ask I didn’t carry a pocket protector or have a little strip of tape holding my glasses together.

I had an interesting discussion over a week ago about the concept of karma. Much like most of us have at some point, some folks try to seek out some form of faith and are uncertain where to look. During this discussion, it was mentioned that the concept of karma was considered more as a result of cause and effect as opposed to some form of intervention from a divine presence. I think this was an interesting comment, especially since that’s basically what karma is; cause and effect.

Nature and the universe has a way of balancing itself out. Think about the course of your day and how things end up. If you walk up to a hornet’s nest and kick it, you’ll get stung. Cause and effect. And this happens in just about every aspect of our lives. Looking at it simply from a physics perspective, Isaac Newton once explained that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. He was mostly referring to the exercised forces on objects that counteract one another, but the concept is very much the same.

The so-called “Law of cause and Effect” states that every effect has a specific and predictable cause and every cause or action has a specific and predictable effect. The back and forth that takes place within this law is a result of the choices you make, the decisions you take and the path you choose to pursue in life. Sounds a bit like karma to me…🤷‍♂️

I could get into Einstein’s theory of special relativity and REALLY give everyone a nosebleed (myself included), but quantum physiques was never a specialty or forte of mine. If you want to seriously fall down the rabbit hole without the benefit of a net, feel free to Google “causality” and see how long it takes before you need several shots of Fireball to make the buzzing in your head come to a stop. But I digress…

Karma, such as it is, is defined as the effect on one’s life from accumulated causes they’ve generated. Yes, within Buddhist terminology, karma is considered as “the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.” I think that’s pretty spot on, and whether you buy into the concept of reincarnation or moving on to another form of existence, the message if pretty simple: live well and you’ll be well. Live badly and you may live badly.

Something from my Catholic upbringing is working its way up to the surface… Something about living by the sword means dying by the sword… Really, if you look closely enough at most schools of faith and even people who believe themselves to be Atheists (because believing in nothing is still believing in SOMETHING, but I’ll save that for another day), there’ll be something similar or identical to this concept.

So effectively, I’m sure you’ve noticed that those who intentionally do wrong, live a life of violence, commit crimes and harm others, usually don’t go on to retire at a ripe old age, hugging their grandchildren while sipping lemonade on the porch. There’s a lot to be said for living a “good” life and doing “good” things. No matter what your faith or your thoughts, living as pure and noble a life is what every person should aspire to. ☯

How Is It Snowing In July? ❄️

I’m not happy. Not. Happy. Ask me why… Go ahead, ask me! Here’s the thing: I had a pretty comprehensive post written up for today. It was controversial, hard-hitting and I cited a couple of sources. I had worked on it for over an hour, reviewing, editing and finally scheduling it to go live. Then, I had a change of heart. I thought about my post all afternoon after I had worked on it. Then I ultimately deleted it and we have this tawdry whining instead!

You see, I got to thinking about how my post would be interpreted by the folks who would read it, and I succumbed to a fear that many writers develop at one point or another. I was worried about who my opinion may offend or upset. In modern vernacular, I was worried about the wrath of the snowflakes!

Honestly, that concern should truly be the last on my mind. After all, I’ve often said that I don’t give a shit what other people think about me or my opinion. But it stands to reason that when you write a blog that you WANT to have people read and share, you try to provide content that will help keep the readers, not lose them. So once the thought crossed my mind that someone would be offended by today’s particular post, I deleted it without thinking. And now, I’m kicking myself in the ass. Because I compromised my writing in response to the possibility of someone else’s sensibilities.

Here’s the real kicker: the original post was ALL about how people in modern society get offended and insulted easily by EVERYTHING. As much as I regret that I didn’t just let the post ride, it’s also taught me an important lesson. Society as a whole has started to change and alter itself in order to conform with everyone else’s sensibilities. People who celebrate Christmas can no longer wish it upon others for fear that it will offend those who don’t celebrate it. Everyone has a gender of their own and become offended and insulted if you make a mistake in that regard (Did you just assume my gender???) A joke that would have otherwise been seen as a satirical way of approaching a sensitive topic is now seen as racist, prejudice, inappropriate or whatever… There’s no freedom of speech anymore.

The real joke behind it all is that snowflakes have caused the very thing that they’ve tried to stifle. People poke fun and make jokes at snowflakes’ expense more and more with every passing year. For the most part, people are having none of it. But every now and again, it almost feels as though the sense of entitlement and the reflex for being offended by everything just doesn’t seem to be worth the argument. ☯

On A Rainy Day ⛈

The only thing worse than having our movements restricted by current quarantine requirements, even if some of those have lessened, is being restricted even further by inclement weather. Considering the majority of my day gets spent in the sunny outdoors watering my lawn, tending my flowers and cycling, rainy days can throw a damper on my mood and my ability to follow my usual routine. It’s even worse for a restless five-year old boy who is used to coming and going from the backyard at his leisure.

My son Nathan is restless by nature, and is rarely satisfied with anything placed in front of him. He has a ton of toys, games and a small amount of electronics (not least of which is his own iPad) that he plays games and watches cartoons on. None of that prevents him from moving on from one thing to another almost without end, driving his mother and I insane in the process. So a rainy day with no school and no means of burning off energy outside can be burdensome to everyone in the household.

That’s where I decided to get creative and build a bird house with him. I called him downstairs on the promise of a fun surprise that would keep him busy for a while. He had received the materials to build a bird house as a Christmas gift, which I promptly hid away for fear that he wasn’t old enough to properly build it. My second fear is that he would likely damage or destroy some of the required parts, which is what he often seems to do with a lot of his toys.

The finished product, in all its glory!

He approached the wooden pieces with unconfined glee and started grabbing at everything in sight, including a small screwdriver and several small screws. I had to contain his eagerness long enough to explain that there were instructions to follow in order to properly build the bird house. I also explained that if he followed instructions and correctly assembled the project, that I would attempt to hang it outside his bedroom window so that he can watch birds come and go.

We worked diligently for almost an hour. One of us holding pieces of wood steady while the other one turned the screwdriver to fasten them together. It was tiring work for his tiny hands and he often relinquished the tightening of screws to me as he held the wooden pieces instead. But close to the end of that hour, we had assembled his small bird house and he quickly scooped it up to go show his mother and to keep it in his bedroom until we hung it up outside.

An angular view, showing how the pieces are bound to one another.

The only hiccup is that our bird house is plain, unfinished wood with no colour and Nathan insists that it needs to be painted. Further, the rod at the front for birds to stand on needs to be glued in place and we have no wood glue to work with. I promised that in the days to come, I would obtain glue and some bird seed to fill the little receptacle at the front. Then we can install a hook and suspend it from the overhang outside his window.

All in all, it didn’t kill off the entire afternoon but it kept Nathan busy for about an hour and has him pretty excited about the prospect of watching birds from his bedroom. It was a definite change from the usual things he would be stuck doing on a rainy day, like watching cartoons or grating on my nerves. Yet another example of how there is always something to be done. Sometimes it just takes a little imagination. ☯

I’ll Just Leave This Right Here…

I’m usually pretty loud and wordy, a trait that I’m quite confident I inherited from my mother. Although I usually have the ability to control my volume and she’s pure-blooded French-Acadian and for a gentle woman, her voice not only carries volumes, it never stops. ANYWAY… I sincerely love my mother, so don’t interpret the above-comment as something negative.

I simply bring this up because I realize that my posts can often become long and convoluted and can be quite the read. So today, I’m keeping it simple with the above illustration. I forget where I found it; it was a couple of week’s ago. But I think it carries an important message about controlling one’s emotions and maintaining self-control when faced with the obstacles of daily life. Enjoy! ☯

Don’t Be Rude!

Do you remember the last time someone was intentionally rude to you? How did it make you feel? Did you dwell on it? Did it sit on your mind for a period of time after the exchange was over? Maybe not. Perhaps you’re the type of person who has thick enough skin that other people’s comments simply slide right on off your shoulders. Or maybe you’re in denial. I don’t know, I’m not a therapist or psychologist. But I DO know that most people who say they aren’t affected by rudeness, still are.

To be rude is defined as being offensively impolite or ill-mannered. The best example that comes to mind is several months ago when I pulled out into traffic into the path of an oncoming vehicle (allegedly). The person took active steps to follow me to a red light and went on to call me by a plethora of inappropriate names and insult me for cutting him off. To this day, I can neither confirm nor deny that I ACTUALLY cut him off, as it’s not my nature to go pulling out into traffic if there’s a risk of a collision. But whether he pulled into my lane or was speeding or I DID cut him off, I can’t be responsible for other people’s perception.

So, why are people rude? Rudeness breeds suffering, the elimination of which is at the very heart of my beliefs, yet it seems that people do it with impunity. As much as we often don’t like to think so, many of us are rude to others in the way we interact with others, the things we say and the things we do. Sometimes this rudeness happens without our knowledge that we are doing it.

Most of us spend our childhood being taught by our parents (and grandparents) that’s it’s wrong to be rude, disrespectful even. But as we reach adulthood, a sense of entitlement often makes us disregard those teachings in relation to how we interact with others and how we treat them. Although none of this is anything new, it’s important to remember not to escalate the situation or reciprocate the behaviour.

A person’s behaviour, whether rude or not, will often be rooted in their own self-esteem and perspectives. That person who bumps into you in a public place without apologizing may be going through something that actively occupies their thoughts. There’s a good chance they weren’t even aware they bumped into you. The person who screams or swears at you in public for taking a parking space or possibly cutting them off in traffic has likely forgotten about you ten minutes later and the interaction isn’t worth the stress you allow yourself to feel as a result.

As difficult as it may be to smile and walk away sometimes, rudeness is one of those behaviours that feeds on itself. If you let someone’s rudeness get to you, you’ll likely be rude to someone else and so on and so forth. Kindness is the best reaction to rudeness and walking away from the situation is always best. Don’t contribute to the suffering in the world. Light knows, there’s enough of it as it is. After all, you can only control your own words and actions; never those of others. ☯

The Sound Of Silence…

Last week, I awoke to a quiet house. I’m never a fan of Monday mornings… They usually mean I have to get some work done and the week has started, the calm and free time of the weekend has evaporated and dealing with the outside world sets in. But anyone who has children and lives in a “typical” family-oriented home will understand why silence can be a bit of a surprise, sometimes even concerning.

My usual Monday mornings involve a colourful choice between an infant wailing for food or a parent’s attention or my rambunctious five-year old son who thinks that my abdomen makes a pretty good trampoline if I’m quietly sleeping. In fact, since the advent of COVID-19, I’ve set an alarm every weekday morning but have never reached it as my children usually wake me up before I get there. Which is fine, right? That’s pretty normal for a family household.

But last Monday, I awoke to the dulcet sound of Joe Satriani’s “Always With Me, Always With You,” which is my morning wake-up alarm. It’s a smooth, guitar-based instrumental that allows me to wake without being jolted out of my slumber as though someone has connected a car battery to various parts of my body. Anyway, after a moment’s confusion I realized that I couldn’t hear a sound, which in this household is an abnormality.

A mild sense of panic set in as I wondered what was going on. The temperature was in the low teens with a steady rain, so I knew my oldest wouldn’t be playing outside (at least I hoped he wouldn’t) and Monday is a day off for my wife. I stepped out of my bedroom to find my son snoring softly in his bed with his iPad playing cartoons next to him. This is an oddity in itself because he went to sleep here in my downstairs office, last night. This means that at some point, he transitioned upstairs to his bedroom without waking anybody; a miracle unto itself.

The baby was quietly sleeping in his crib and I found my wife sitting on the couch, tinkering on her phone. We said good morning and chatted for a few minutes before it was agreed that my wife should go back to bed and sleep while the baby sleeps. I got a cup of coffee and toasted an english muffin and escaped to the solitude of my basement, which is where I do all my research, indoor workouts and my writing. I settled in and enjoyed my breakfast in a quiet solitude that any parent can agree rarely happens.

So, I sat there… Took sips of my coffee and actually played Mega Man 2 on a badly coded game emulator on my computer. I read a few chapters of a book and checked out a few things online and enjoyed the silence. And you know what? I honestly don’t understand the folks who claim they can’t stand being in silence. It’s wonderful. You can be alone and collect your thoughts, you can enjoy some much needed down time and it’s good for your overall mental well-being.

Eventually the bubble bursts, and it didn’t take long for my son to track me down and begin demanding breakfast. But having that little bit of quiet time every now and again can make a huge difference in one’s life. I highly recommend it. Whether you have a workout, read a book or flat out do NOTHING and just relax, everyone should enjoy a little calm and quiet. Every once in a while. ☯

The Most Unlikely Sources…

Something important to bear in mind is that inspiration and learning can come from some very unlikely sources. Every Sunday, I try to choose someone that has taught me something, guided me or inspired me throughout my life. I hate to admit it, but it’s been a challenge. I’ve mainly tried to keep this contained to martial artists, including the likes of Michele “The Mouse” Krasnoo, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, Ronda Roussey and even Miyamoto Musashi. All of these folks have had an impact on my life and have inspired what paths I’ve chosen.

But I’ve also made a point of including people who have inspired or guided me in other ways, like my father. Ultimately, we can find inspiration in negative places as well. I only say this because the subject of this week’s “inspiration” post is someone who has had about as much negative (if not more) influence on the general public as positive. I am referring to a reasonably well-known action star named Steven Seagal.

It may be considered an unpopular opinion by some, but Seagal played an integral role in my interest of the martial arts. After all, he’s a master of Aikido, studied/taught in Japan and starred in a number of action movies that came out during those impressionable years when I was young enough to be impressed but old enough to think, “Hmm, this martial arts stuff is pretty cool!” He moved to Japan and studied Aikido there, and claims to have also been the “first non-Asian to open a dojo in Japan.” Whether this is true or not is anyone’s guess, but he’s had a colourful life prior to returning to the United States where he began acting in movies.

He has starred in almost five dozen movies, although a good number of those beyond the mid-90’s went straight to video. I first saw him when I was ten years old in a movie called Above The Law. In it, he plays a police officer and martial artists who uncovers a government conspiracy and helps put an end to it. Sounds pretty heroic, right? In fact, the majority of his movies have involved the protagonist being some sort of military/police/operative who ultimately saves the day. But that’s the whole point, right? We usually WANT to see the hero win. As a kid, I was awe-struck by Seagal’s ability to use grappling and striking as a means of defeating even the most difficult of enemies. And all of his films up until the late 90’s were pretty bad-ass. I can still watch some of them with deep enjoyment, although much more criticism on his martial arts technique.

Then it gets a bit convoluted. Seagal identifies as a Buddhist and martial artist. This holds some special meaning to me, being a Buddhist and martial artist myself. But it stands to reason that someone who practices a religion devoted to the elimination of suffering in the world should be doing just that, shouldn’t they? Seagal has been the subject of a lot of controversy recent decades, including allegations of sexual assault, violence against the people he works with and has ongoing feuds with the majority of his Hollywood counterparts, notably Jean-Claude Van Damme, as a prime example. Not a very Zen-like approach to life, especially a blessed one such as his.

In recent decades, Seagal has become something of a walking joke when one considers his strange political views, ongoing opinions about how other martial artists aren’t “true martial artists” and his apparent lack of self-care where his body is concerned. The man has ballooned up to the point that he almost looks like a cartoon character! My wife and I recently watched him on Netflix in a film called Maximum Conviction, where he starred alongside Steve Austin. Once again, he was portrayed as some sort of specialist who simply couldn’t be defeated. The movie basically starts out by having him beat up a prison inmate who happens to be over twice his mass!

I’m not saying that a genuine martial artist would be unable to defeat a larger opponent, but given the fact that he was 60 years of age in that movie, couple with how he’s let himself go physically, one needs to face reality at some point. It’s no surprise this was yet another straight-to-DVD movie. Even WITH Diabetes, I consider it a point of health, personal care and importance to try and maintain my physical fitness to the best of my ability; a task I feel that I’m still on top of, despite my gut slowly trying to overtake my efforts. But I digress…

My point is, Seagal helps to provide guidance in a very specific way: he’s shown me how NOT to be. His behaviours definitely don’t fall in line with someone who is a true student of the Buddhist or Martial Way. His concepts and abilities with the martial arts have been questioned for decades, both for their authenticity and truth behind his claims. None of this is how a true martial artists or Buddhist would be intended to behave. When I need to know how NOT to comport myself, I need only think of Steven Seagal. ☯

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover, Even If The Cover Should Reveal What’s Inside

I remember a story from years ago when I was a manager at my hometown’s local pharmacy. Yes, I was a pharmacy manager… In general, it was an uninteresting job. But like most things in life, there can be lessons to learn behind the scenes, if you’re willing to listen. This is one of those lessons…

I was helping the merchandising staff get some stock out to the floor and I was working in the painkillers and vitamins section with one of the pharmacy technicians. The pharmacy staff were always a little “holier than thou” with the front store staff as they believed that the dispensary was the only reason for the location’s existence. So, there would sometimes be a BIT of tension there. Especially since I technically had no direct authority over them as they fell under the umbrella of the Pharmacist/Owner.

Anyway, I was shelving painkillers (Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen) and the tech was shelving some vitamins. We had a plastic bin for damaged and expired goods on a wheeled cart between our two respective aisles. At one point, we took a break and I glanced down into the bin and noticed a coupled of expired items I had tossed. I also noticed a full, unopened box of multivitamins sitting in the bin. I picked them up and checked the expiration date. They were good until the following year.

I asked the tech why the vitamins were sitting in the throwaway bin. The tech took the box from my hand and showed me where the cardboard was slightly damaged on one end. That was it. The ends were still sealed and by proxy, the bottle of vitamins inside was still sealed tight and the vitamins were in perfectly good condition. I explained to the tech that we couldn’t throw out the box of vitamins based on a bit of scratched cardboard as there was nothing wrong with the bottle inside (part of my responsibility included shrinkage).

The tech pursed her lips and turned her nose up, explaining that she wouldn’t buy a damaged box and couldn’t see any customer doing so either. I asked her, “Why not? If the bottle and the vitamins are intact, there’s literally nothing wrong with it, why would you not still purchase it? Who cares if the box has some scratched up cardboard on it?” She simply shrugged and had no viable answer to give me. I was at a loss and a little bit confused, as my feeling was that the little bit of damage on the outside didn’t take away the value of what was contained within. Apparently, she didn’t agree…

This is an important lesson for the world in general, especially in today’s society of social media filters, photoshopped pictures and everybody’s immediate obsession with their outside appearance. Bullying is at an all-time high, and people’s ability to resist or stand up to it is at an all-time low. But the unfortunate reality is that the first thing people see when meeting us is what’s on the outside. And more often than not, their assessment of you is over before they get to know what’s inside the package.

The Buddhist in me thinks that this is a sad state for the world to be in. The loud, French martial artist with the attitude in me thinks that I don’t give a shit what other people think about me one way or another, but not everyone is as thick skinned. Either way, the important thing to remember is that first impressions are simply that: a first impression. Until you’ve taken the time to look beneath the surface and see what the second, third and fourth impressions may yield, judgements should be reserved and withheld. ☯

Happy Canada Day!

Alright, so this is a re-post of last year’s Canada Day. But in reviewing it, I decided that there was little I could add or modify that does this post any justice, so I’m sharing it again.Other than the fact that July 1st carries a bit of a dark stain in my personal life (those close to me know what I’m referring to), my country holds a big place in my heart and I think our national holiday is an important observation on the yearly calendar. Enjoy…

O, Canada! My home and native land… Alright, for those of you who know the anthem, that was pretty cheesy. But today is our National holiday, celebrated on July 1st because Canada became a country on July 1st 1867. For my fellow bloggers and loyal readers who may not be from the Great White North, here are some quick facts about Canada to help you understand what makes us awesome…

The common misconception is that Canada was first discovered in 1534 by French mariner Jacques Cartier. Although it is the accepted belief, the discovery of an abandoned outpost in the Province of Newfoundland suggests that Vikings may have come to Canada as early as 500 years before Cartier.

Vikings aside, French and British settlers began colonizing in 1602. British colonies and territories joined together in 1867 through confederation to become a self-governing country that we know today as Canada.

Although self-governing, Canada continued to be ruled by the British Crown until as recently as 1982, when our Constitution was patriated. The British Monarchy is still considered our head of state.

Our country has the second largest landmass of one country, in the world. Our borders touch three oceans (Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic) and our country has 10 Provinces and 3 Territories. As of today, Canada has a population of over 37 million people and we boast a unique multiculturalism unseen anywhere else in the world.

What else is Canadian? Well, I’m glad you asked… Five pin bowling, the wonder-bra, Trivial Pursuit, the vehicle Odometer, the egg carton, North American time zones, the electric wheelchair, the first plastic garbage bags, the paint roller, the first internet search engine, the first pacemaker, basketball, ringette and hockey, the world-renown Royal Canadian Mounted Police and of course, insulin! (You’re welcome world!)

We thoroughly enjoy our food. In fact, we’ve invented a mouthful of it (see what I did there?)… Poutine, Nanaimo bars, instant mashed potatoes, the California Roll, Chinese buffets, peanut butter and butter tarts, caesars (the drink), Hawaiian Pizza and Coffee Crisp bars!

And contrary to popular belief, we didn’t invent donuts but Tim Horton’s donuts is Canadian and its coffee brand is world-renown. One of the fun and unique things about Canada is that you’ll find local cuisine and dialects specific to particular corners of our nation.

There’s so much more, but I’d need more than a blog post to cover it all. Suffice it to say that Canada has a lot more to it than beavers, moose and donuts. If you have the benefit of living here, hopefully you’re doing something to celebrate today.

If not, come pay us a visit! I’ll grab a two-four of Molson Canadian and some Timbits and I’ll tell you the rest of the story. Stop on in, eh? ☯

Another Piece To The Puzzle

I started CGM last week. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, CGM stands for Continuous Glucose Monitoring, and it’s a device that measures my blood glucose levels every five minutes and communicates them with my insulin pump. In some ways, it’s the same as my FreeStyle Libre, with the exception that my FreeStyle doesn’t communicate with my pump.

Although having a device that instantly tells my pump whether it needs to suspend basal delivery because of a low and maintain a better percentage of “time in range,” it stands to reason that a more complicated device will theoretically have more issues. And I have found this to be true with CGM. The FreeStyle Libre has been good to me overall, providing little in the ways of problems and interfacing with my phone for a quick, easy means of checking my blood sugars.

When I started the insulin pump in early 2015, I was resistant to CGM. Hell, I was resistant to the pump itself, but the medical professionals through my work kept “encouraging” it, and since they were footing the bill I figured, why not? And no, that isn’t a brag about the fact my pump was covered by my medical insurance. I’m well aware that most people don’t have that benefit, so I’m grateful rather than bragging.

But given the potential violence of my work, I felt that it wouldn’t be ideal to have a device hanging off my gut, around the clock. I also didn’t want to feel tethered to a machine, having grown up watching my brother hooked to machines all his life. I conceded to try the pump, but I refused the CGM as it would be a second module attached to the body and I felt as though one was enough. I mean, come on! Life with Diabetes is difficult enough without turning myself into a cyborg, am I right?

Hello, CGM! Welcome to the party! (Pointing out my freckle is not necessary, thank you!)

My endocrinologist did it right; sneaking the FreeStyle Libre into my life, calling it the “poor man’s CGM” (although it’s far from being cheap, by any means) and allowing me to get comfortable with the prospect of a second device on my person. I have been using FreeStyle for about two years now, and with the advent of my new pump that I started mid-March (Presenting, The Medtronic 670G), I decided to stop being such a stubborn princess and try the CGM that my pump is designed for. (Don’t get any ideas, I’m the only one allowed to call me a princess… And maybe my wife…)

So, here are the problems… Because this is me, and of course there are problems… The first glucose sensor I installed at my pump training failed within hours. Either from a faulty sensor or from scar tissue (which I’ll be covering the day after tomorrow) we don’t know. But it was a pain in the ass, nonetheless. Installing the sensor is tedious, involving more steps than refilling the insulin pump AND using enough adhesive to make Red Green‘s duct tape jealous. (If you don’t know who that is, click on the link and I apologize for aging myself so severely)

This happened last Monday. I was frustrated and I already felt as though the CGM would cause more problems than it was worth, so I shut the option off on my pump. I’m also a bit old school and it takes me a while to put the fate of my well-being in a machine I’m unfamiliar with (Not today, SkyNet!). On Tuesday, I went cycling with a friend and felt it wasn’t a great day to re-install, so I went without it. On Wednesday, I realized that I was actively avoiding it, so I installed a new sensor and started the whole thing up.

I also needed to demo the installation for my wife, who will be the one helping me install it on my tricep, should I decided to use that as a potential site (cue the naughty nurse jokes, here.) Here’s the thing: it’s been helpful. I’m eating an entire murder of crows admitting this, but having the ability to simply glance at my pump screen and see my trends and know what I may be currently sitting at has been nice. Also, my pump is set to automatically suspend my basal rates if I hit 4.0 mmol/L, making it a whole lot safer for me at night. Now, I just need to see how the device will hold up to extreme exercise or cycling, and how I’ll handle a punch to the gut when I return to karate, for the jury to fully have a verdict.

I guess my point behind all of this, besides pointing out how stubborn I am, is that although we don’t have a cure for Diabetes yet, technology has carried us lightyears beyond where we were in the early 80’s when I was diagnosed. When I think about the brick of a glucometer I used to carry around, only testing my blood once a day, “eat no sugar” being my only mantra and the fact that I was excused from most if not all sports due to the fact that “Diabetes makes it dangerous to play sports…” Pffft… what bullshit! If I only knew then what I know now. But I digress…

My point is that we’re getting there. Different technologies are at least making Diabetes manageable in ways it never could be, before. Will we have a cure someday? Like a significant percentage of the Canadian population, I sincerely hope so. I just don’t know if it’ll be within my lifetime. In the meantime, I’m well on my way to becoming a cyborg. ☯