It’s been a while since I posted something I’ve found online just for the sake of sharing it, so I thought I would do so today. I say this as I slam a paragraph in my opening instead of simply posting the photo! I’ll reign myself in just long enough o share today’s quote. Here is is…
Miyamoto Musashi has been a significant role model for me through my martial arts journey. He was a Japanese swordsman who developed his own style of Two-bladed swordsmanship. He was also an artist and philosopher, which gave him a unique perspective on the ins and outs of martial arts and how one should approach life. He wrote a book in the late 1600’s famously titled The Book of Five Rings, which was intended as a means for Musashi to leave behind the teachings he provided to his students.
Whenever I share a quote that’s said to be attributed to someone, I’m always cautious to point out that the quote is only as good (and accurate) as its content. There are a lot of memes and supposed quotes out there that are credited to persons who may actually have never said it. In that spirit and if you haven’t done so, I would highly recommend getting a copy of Musashi’s book and read for yourself. Although this one quote hits deeply, his book reflects on so much more and gets the mind working. Stay healthy. ☯️
Ah, life… It tends to go by in a flicker. Many people exist throughout the course of their lives without ever really living it. And that’s a shame, when you consider that regardless of what school of thought you adhere to, or what faith background you may have, no one truly knows what comes next. What if this is it? Is it really worth getting hot under the collar at the guy who cut you off in traffic? Probably not. We tend to live life as though we have all the time in the world.
One big aspect of life is that we almost always want something we don’t have. In some ways, this is to be expected. The gathering and accumulation of material things serves a number of purposes for humanity. On the one hand, it can be a social status thing, with the ownership of certain things showing wealth, success and/or prosperity. On the other, it can be a happiness thing. Maybe you don’t need a $100,000 camper trailer for the couple of months in the summer that you can use it but your sure as fuck love camping in it when you do.
If you have the method and the means, all of that is well and good. But if you’re the person on the other side of the fence LOOKING at the camper trailer that someone else owns, you’d be lying to yourself if you believed the thought hadn’t crossed your mind that it’d be loads of fun. I use a camper trailer as an example because it’s the first one that came to mind but you can apply that concept to just about anything, including material belongings, wealth and even the people in your life.
Age is a big one, too. If you think back to your youth and if you’re being truly honest with yourself, you’d be likely to find at least one occasion where the thing you wanted most was to be grown up; grown up to buy booze, grown up to do what you want and come and go as you please… Never truly recognizing the benefits and advantages of your youth, while you had it. As an adult, how many times have you wished you could go back to your youth, either for health reasons or because it was a simpler time when you didn’t have to pay bills, work a job and have responsibilities? If you need a perfect example of wanting what you don’t have, you need only to look within oneself.
At the end of all things being equal, life is meant to be lived in the moment. There are things we NEED to do in order to live and function in modern society. Having a job and bringing in an income is counted among the most prominent. But while you’re busy doing that, take the time to enjoy the stage of life you’re in and the benefits you do have. As much as I’d love the energy and health of my youth, I sure don’t miss having to go to school and having most aspects of my life under someone else’s control. And that’s the point; life is a compromise. Work to make money so that you can use that money to grab that occasional pint of beer when you want it. Don’t stress and don’t focus on the things you don’t have right in front of you. You’ll be better off for it and you’ll live better. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Food for thought… ☯️
It’s been a couple of weeks since I mistook my thumb for a shiitake mushroom and tried to slice the tip off of it with a chef’s knife. For those who may not have read the post a couple of weeks ago, I was slicing up mushrooms in my kitchen for a slow cooker recipe I was trying. I was using a beautiful, carbon steel chef’s knife that my wife and I purchased only months ago. Razor sharp and quite hefty, I was hacking away at the mushrooms pretending to be Gordon fuckin’ Ramsey when my eye caught movement outside my kitchen window…
Also for those of you who may not be aware, although I‘ve mentioned it on occasion, is that I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, way back before it was fashionable. My training in the martial arts and Buddhism have helped me to focus and control some of the worse symptoms into adulthood but there’s no denying that sometimes I tend to squirrel with the best of them. The blade came down as I looked off to my left and cut through about a third of the meat in my thumb. A nearly four-hour ER visits and four stitches later, this was the result…
Cursing myself for my attention span and regretful of the temporary use of my left thumb, its been an uninteresting couple of weeks. The big issue for Type-1 Diabetics is that we can often take much longer than the average person to heal from injuries. This is generally from our poor blood circulation making it harder for blood cells to reach the wound to help with the rebuilding process. Not to mention that since we have difficulty metabolizing sugar into energy since we don’t self-produce insulin, poor blood sugar levels will also affect the body’s ability to heal.
As a result, I buckled up for a month or more of having a bandaged thumb. You never realize just how much your use your thumb until you no longer can. Buttoning shirts, tying shoes and even using the washroom has become more of a challenge. But as the past couple of weeks have elapsed, I’ve come to realize that I don’t necessarily have the depth of Diabetic issues that others do or as I’ve described in the previous paragraph. As a result, I heal much better and faster than the average Type-1. After two weeks of bandages and dissolving stitches, here’s where I’m at now…
It looks red and angry, and it is! On Tuesday night I agreed to play some retro Nintendo with my 9-year old and winced when I realized I needed the very red spot you see to use the keypad. But besides the flaking dead skin and a bit of a sore, hard spot on the top, which I assume is now scar tissue, I’m healing up like a champ. I’m glad to see it but the itching and flaking skin has been driving me nuts.
The point of this post is to speak to how important it is to maintain one’s blood sugars and maintain some level of physical fitness. This applies to everyone but is even more important if you have Type-1 Diabetes. If I had poor control and didn’t care for myself physically, I’d probably be looking at another couple of weeks before I reached the point you see in the second photo. People often don’t see or understand the difference. This is an excellent visual example. ☯️
There must be a balance in life. This applies to all things, positive or negative. For example, although I enjoy the benefits of pump therapy to treat my Type-1 Diabetes, there are some definite negatives to wearing a pump and continuous glucose monitoring. I experienced some of those negatives during my recent travels to New Brunswick. They include having to calculate the number of pieces of replacement gear I’d need for the trip, including infusion sets, sensors, reservoirs, gluco-sticks for my blood metre and a partridge in a very annoying pear tree. Getting through airport security is also fun, as it usually requires me to be physically pat down instead of going through the same way everyone else does. But I digress…
Once in a while, the positive rises up to counteract the negative. I had the opportunity to experience that, this morning. I got to take a naked shower. Now, you may be asking, “But Shawn, isn’t everyone naked when they shower?” First of all, no, because you don’t know how other people shower, so save your questions until the end of the class. But what I mean, is that I had absolutely no pump equipment on my flesh when I showered this morning. When I woke up, I only had a few units of insulin left and knew I’d have to change out my set. My sensor was due to expire within the next two hours, so I removed it to charge the transmitter, as well. The result was an abdomen clear of all my cyborg parts.
There’s a certain freedom to being able to shower completely unhindered by having your devices attached to you. It’s a very small thing that people take for granted but the reality is that when I shower, I usually have to be mindful to angle my body so that I’m not constantly spraying hot water on my sensor. To be clear, everything I wear can withstand water and even be submerged. The issue is with the adhesive that holds everything in place. Hot water exposure will almost certainly melt away some of the adhesive. And even if it doesn’t the adhesive will start to dry and shrink, causing it to peel away from the skin. And obviously, as I’m lathering up I need to avoid piling a bunch of soap and hot water on everything.
This morning was a rare instance where both my CGM and my infusion set were absent. I didn’t have to guard where the water fell, I could scrub freely at my leisure and I could let the hot water cascade upon me with abandon. It was an excellent start to my morning and providing a level of enjoyment in the shower that I rarely get… Feel free to insert whatever dirty jokes that you feel may be appropriate, here. But seriously, I often have occasions where I’m due to change my infusion set, so THAT’s off during a shower. Or on the rare occasions my sensor change happens at home (it usually happens at work), I get to have a shower with THAT off. But having both of them off at the same time is pretty much like playing Russian roulette.
So, there you have it. Just another day in the life of a Type-1 Diabetic with all of his first-world problems. But it’s certainly an interesting aspect that people usually don’t consider. I always joke around that I’m technically a cyborg; I wear technology that replaces the function of something in the human body and helps to keep me alive. There are a lot of benefits to pump therapy. But some of the little joys are worth mentioning. And enjoying. Food for thought… ☯️
So, I’m going to end this travel series on the most positive note I possibly can. IN Sensei’ words and as I often write, for every negative, there is a positive; and vice versa. It’s been a rough week for me; dropping everything at the drop of a hat and travelling across the country to the East Coast to help my mother during a transition that I thought would never happen. Honestly, I always assumed she’d pass away before her mind went. But I walked away on Friday night confident in the fact that she’s safe, warm, sheltered and fed and has a great support system in place. In fact, I would have to go on record as saying I have the best fuckin’ family in the world. Part of me is thoroughly convinced that had they not intervened prior to my arrival, I would have been travelling out there to bury my mother instead of visiting her. But I digress… And I did say I would end this on a positive note.
The dark, foreboding roads of New Brunswick
As I wrote yesterday, Saturday morning saw me get up a few inches higher than the butt-crack of dawn and drive south on a dark, moose-infested highway from Northern New Brunswick and the City of Moncton. All in all, my travel day, if I include the driving (which I do), amounted to about 22 hours of total travel. Delayed departures threatened my ability to get home and flight changes at two different airports before touching down in Regina gave me a unique insight into the ignorance and undeserved self-entitlement that the general public seem to have when being in an airport terminal. But before I go off on some sort of negative tangent, I should probably get to the more positive aspects of my visit; of which there were many.
Taking care of a family comes with its fair share of responsibilities, which I’m sure I don’t need to tell any of you. When we usually travel out East, the opportunity to kick back and go out is pretty rare. This is mainly because my mother doesn’t have the constitution or control to deal with Nathan and Alexander, which means we limit our outings and interactions while in New Brunswick to a) what can be done during daylight hours and b) all together. The result is that I usually never get to see many of the friends and associates I still have in northern New Brunswick because most of them work day jobs and after supper, we’re winding the boys down and trying to get them to bed. From my side of things, it would be irresponsible and selfish of me to leave my wife with the boys in a random hotel room in a community she’s unfamiliar with, and take the only vehicle and say, “Have a god night, hun! I’m off to shoot pool and drink beer. See you later!” Dick move, imaginary me. Dick move.
Flight 1 of 3. Let’s go, already!
This is one of the only occasions in nearly a decade where I was able to touch base and reconnect with some folks I haven’t hung out with in years. And I even got to go see Sensei’s son’s new house, which he had been begging me to go see for years. I reconnected and shared meals with some family members and was introduced to the wonder that is pork loin (Thanks, Daniel!) and will likely be trying to make it myself. I got to enjoy brunch with an old high school friend and fellow karate practitioner. I got to shoot pool and enjoy a couple of pints of the elusive Alpine beer, of which there is none in Saskatchewan. And last but certainly not least, I got to spend several hours sitting in Sensei’s warm living room reliving old memories as he provided sage advice and wisdom, even without asking for it. This is Sensei’s way.
Contemplating life at 32,000 feet
in some ways, many ways, my mother has managed to teach me some valuable lessons through this entire process, as well. A part of me wants to share the image my aunt took of my mother’s emaciated form when she found her. She was on the brink of death and looked horrible. However, I don’t feel it would be respectful of me to expose my mother in such a private moment and it could be triggering or traumatic for some to see her that way. But the bottom line is my mother reached a point where she realized she no longer had anyone to take of and spent her days in silence. Alone and depressed, she gave up. It isn’t until family stepped up to start helping and being there, that she started to regain some constitution and start to get better. The way she appeared when I left on Friday was night and day compared to the photo I saw, only two weeks prior.
Guess who was happy to see me?
The bottom line is that we all need people. In whatever way, shape or form that takes holds for each of us, we need that in our lives. For my mother, she spent her entire life taking care of others. She spent two decades on a state of constant hyper-vigilance looking after my brother until he passed. Then, my father’s paralysis took hold and she took care of him until he signed himself into a care home. Finally, both my grandparents reached their end-of-life needs, which my mother provided for both. It isn’t until the past year or two where she’s had absolutely no one to take care of or look after. Years of constant stress and adrenaline have taken their toll, which contributed to her current state but the biggest caveat is that she couldn’t be alone. That’s what started to do her in…
Whether some of us choose to admit it or not, human beings are pack animals and we need others in order to survive. My mother was a clear example of this, as she is once again thriving. As much as a 75-year old woman who’s losing her memories can thrive, of course. But the lesson here and what I picked up during this trying week is that life is short. No matter what school of philosophy you adhere to or what you think happens in the afterlife, the life you’re in is but a flicker. At the snap of your fingers, it’s gone. So it’s important to live life and take the time to appreciate your family, loved ones and the important things in your life. This is an important lesson that I’ve always known but the rigours and stresses of life sometimes make one forget. It’s just unfortunate that my mother had to nearly die in order for me to remember.
The lesson was driven home (pun intended) the most as I disembarked from the final leg of my flight, at the airport in Regina. As I descended the escalator, I saw my wife and my two sons, patiently waiting for me to arrive. As I reached the bottom of the escalator, no act of God or man could have kept my redheaded little daredevil from plowing through large, adult crowds to plow into my arms. As shown from the last photo above, he was up as soon as I was, this morning and has been attached to me, ever since. I guess daddy’s home. Life eventually starts to take away more than it gives. That’s the inevitable secret of life. That’s why we need to enjoy the happy moments when we can, despite having them peppered with the sad ones. It’s the balance of life that means the difference between living, and just existing. Food for thought. And with that thought, I’ve got some life to go live. It’s good to be home. ☯️
October 13th is a pretty typical day fro most people… Falling somewhere after Thanksgiving (in Canada, mind you) and a couple of weeks before Halloween, it’s a pretty unassuming day that most people tend to consider just another day on the calendar. But for me and 27 other individuals, it’s a fixed point in the history of our lives that altered the course of who we are and what we’ve become. Today is the anniversary of when I was sworn in as a peace officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
I’ve always believed that it was important to live one’s life without regrets. I still believe that, despite the many hardships I’ve faced in recent years and the ones I continue to face now. Every once in a. While, an individual makes a decision that becomes a fixed point in their lives from which all subsequent decisions will stem from. Such was my decision to become a police officer and try to serve the people of my country and help those who can’t help themselves.
Starting with a troop of 32 and graduating with only 28, I never could have predicted how taking on this career path would change me, in some ways for the better and some for the worse. I also couldn’t have predicted that doing so would make Saskatchewan my new, permanent home and where I’d meet my wife and have my children. But here we are! I can look back with absolutely no regrets and nothing but fond memories of the training, the discipline and the camaraderie that was developed during those long months of training, which ultimately brought me to the here and now.
A few of my troop mates were also posted to Saskatchewan and we had started a tradition on our 1-year anniversary that I had sought to carry on. We joined up in a neutral city and toasted our time with a shot of Fireball. At two years, we did two shots. At three years we did three and so on and so forth… It was a wonderful tradition until I crossed the line into 10 years and it started to become dangerous. I’m not in my 20’s anymore; downing a dozen shots, even over the course of hours, doesn’t sit well with my system.
Considering I’ve all but cut out alcohol consumption completely, this may be the first year that I find a different means of celebrating and observing the day that subsequently set my path for me. Next to joining karate, the day I became a police officer is one of the most impactful of my life. And since I was too fuckin’ young at the time, I have no way of knowing EXACTLY what date I would have joined karate. But one can’t celebrate everything, right?
It’s been a few years since I’ve worn the uniform and my path has since moved beyond that aspect of my life. But the memory and impact it carries will stay with me forever. Policing in modern-day society poses its own unique set of risks and complications. As my grandfather would say, things aren’t like they used to be be. And that is so true. Policing and police officers in general, are no longer viewed with the same reverence and place of respect as they used to be. We have a number of factors to thank for that but that can be a potty for another time. For now, I’m going to absorb the day, immerse myself in some memories and be thankful for the time I had. I only pray my old troop mates are still out there, keeping us safe and being safe themselves. ☯️
If you’re talking about karate, the short is yes. Yes, you do. But is it really that’s black and white? I’m talking about the training environment, of course, not an actual fight. If you’re in an actual fight and you don’t strike your opponent, you’re in for a bit of a bad time. But even in those circumstances, there can often be alternatives. I bring this up today because, having been in my fair share of fights, both on the street and in the dojo, I know a little something about having to strike and in most cases, striking first to avoid getting injured.
I recently saw a meme online that quoted a Shorin-Ryu practitioner named Hiya Yuchoku. Yuchoku studied under a number fo well-known teachers, including Chojun Miyagi, who is known as the founder of Japanese Goju-Ryu. He was awarded his 10th degree in the late 1970’s, almost 20 years before his death in 1994. I’m never one to speak ill of the departed, especially such a revered martial artist. But I’m also quite leery of any quote that’s attributed to a source that is no longer around to confirm or deny what words they may have said. Here’s the quote I read:
“It’s not Karate if you interrupt the blow before contact. It is impossible to fight without the possibility of injury. Injuries are often inevitable.
Karate is essentially not fit for Tournaments. It is not feasible to make real Karate a competitive sport.”
– Hugs Yuchoku
There’s a lot to unpack in those two short, little paragraphs. For the most part, I tend to agree with the second paragraph. Karate was never intended to be a competitive sport. Although we do see karate tournaments, the spirit and intent of the art was never meant to score points or win trophies. I know that’s for myself, personally, I’ve never competed. Sensei doesn’t approve of such things and neither do I. My karate has always been about self-defence and the defence of others. But, to each their own, right?
What concerns me with the quote is the first paragraph, specifically the first sentence. “It’s not karate if you interrupt the blow before contact.” Let’s examine that statement, for a moment. For decades, I’ve trained myself to have an accurate control over my strikes so that I can stop on a dime or plow through my target with the intention of only stopping on the other side. And quite frankly, every possible degree in between. This is important. being able to strike something/someone is easy. Any poor bastard who can close a tight fist can throw a punch and make an impact.
But to have the control to be able to spar in a full contact environment and still stop a hair’s width from your target takes skill, concentration and focus. Three very important aspects that most would argue is integral to learning karate properly. To be able to put full strength behind a strike but still maintain enough control to stop on a dime develops a level of muscle memory that one simply won’t get by always plowing right through.
The second part of the first paragraph, where injuries are referenced, is quite accurate. Let‘s be real, for a moment… Karate isn’t a fuckin’ knitting circle. If you want to avoid injury completely, maybe you should take up checkers, instead. The “possibility” of injury always exists, even in the training environment. This is why firm control, concentration and focus, as well as respect for your opponent, are so very, very important to effectively learning karate.
As is always the case, different styles and martial artists will have different views and opinions on this. I invite any of you who have input to please feel free to provide your thoughts in the comments section. I always welcome a good debate. Food for thought… ☯️
When you include all the variations and offshoots, there are hundreds of different martial arts styles, hailing from several different countries. This includes a martial art called “Kalaripayattu,” which has origins in India and is said to be thousands of years’ old. Some styles owe their creation to the existence of previously-existing styles, like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That style seems to be all the rage and everyone always praises it but did you know that the style is actually a combination of Japanese Judo and Jujutsu? The style that a good portion of the world seems to think is “oh so great,” is actually a combination of two already-great styles. But the fact I could make that snarky last comment speaks to what today’s post is all about.
I’d love to say that my style is the ultimate one and can outdo any other style that could possibly be out there. But the reality is that it isn’t just about the style but how you train and how much you put into it. I’ve had people I’ve trained with that royally shit the bed in terms of how they’ve developed themselves. Meanwhile, I’m pretty convinced that my Sensei could not only beat the shit out of a team comprised of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li but he would follow up by walking away slowly as an explosion happens in the background. But I may be JUST a little bit biased. The point is that most practitioners tend to develop that bias, since most dedicated martial artists will find and stay with one style for the majority of their training career. Because of this, they tend to believe that their style is THE style.
There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of loyalty and it’s certainly important to bear in mind that style hopping tends to water down a student’s overall skills. But the style you choose is exceptionally subjective and the idea is to choose a style that suits you, fits your needs and helps to provide you with what you need, overall. You have some exceptions, like Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme. Say what you will about some of the movies, both those fuckers have multiple black belts in various styles. But that tends to be the exception, not the rule. The idea is that sticking with one style doesn’t mean that every other style is wrong or ineffective.
That’s why it’s important to show a little respect. If the original developers of martial arts styles hadn’t kept an open mind and showed a bit of willingness to learn something new, the style you’ve dedicated yourself to would probably never exist. Or at the very least, it might be significantly different than what you know. In my time, I’ve had the opportunity to study with a variety of schools touching on a number of different styles. These different styles have had different ways of doing things, including how to stand, how to execute techniques and even how to close one’s fist and throw a punch, which seems quite basic but there’s apparently more than one way to do it. Imagine that! And although these styles were different, there was always something for me to learn. It wasn’t always easy… Adjusting to different techniques when you’ve been doing it a certain way for decades can be rough. But through all of that, respect has always been there.
No matter what style you study, how long you’ve been at it or how effective you think it is, always remember that anyone else likely feels the same way about their style. There should be no lack of respect for the other styles you may encounter. There are far too many people who bash and bad-talk other styles and always assume that their style is the ultimate one and that no other style has any value. The truth is that there is value in all styles and they’ve all had their journey. So keep an open mind and be willing to consider different perspectives. Although dedication to one style is important, respect for ALL styles holds a seat on the same platform. Food for thought… ☯️
It’s a natural instinct to want the things we don’t have. In some instances, this is called ambition, or having goals. This concept applies even when it happened to be something we CAN’T have, although many of us can’t differentiate the difference between “don’t” and “can’t.” But many things in life are often taken for granted, at a time in our lives when we don’t even realize we’re better off.
A good example of this is sleep. How many times have we fought off bedtime or refused to nap as children, afraid to miss something important in our day or preferring to play or watch television than get some sleep. It always seemed so arbitrary and unnecessary. For myself, I was always a little too smart for my own good; I would rationalize that even if I stayed up now, I could sleep more at the other end. This didn’t always work in my favour, considering my parents had to work, run errands and meet appointments, which didn’t always allow me to lounge in my bed at my leisure…
As an adult, I often look back at those days of menial defiance and recognize that I often wish I could go back to a time when my only concern on a weekend was wether I actually took the nap or not. And I can assuredly promise that I would take advantage and crash hard. These days, between work obligations, family obligations, children, errands and chores, there is little time for naps and even a proper night’s sleep is often interrupted by the difficulties of Type-1 Diabetes or the pitter-patter of tiny feet, sneaking out of their bedrooms to pilfer snacks or retrieve their forbidden electronic devices. But I digress…
My point is, we rarely take the opportunity to appreciate the circumstance we’re in; usually preferring to yearn and wish for the circumstances that could be. But if I use my sleep scenario as an example, the issue is not wishing one could go back but rather examining one’s current state and contemplating what one might do to change it for the better. Want that afternoon nap on the weekends? There may be some compromise and negotiating to be done but it isn’t impossible. That’s where the concept of goals come in, after all.
As pack animals, humans will also yearn for what they see others possess. Whether it’s a bigger house, a fancy car or an apparent high-paying job that one may think is far better than their own, the acquisition of material possession and wealth is considered not only a societal norm in the Western world, but an expectation. But how better off are these folks who have everything you covet? Are they truly happier or well off? Or is there a storm brewing under the surface of their existence that you may not be seeing.
They say that money can’t buy happiness. I’ve heard and read that saying more times than I can possibly remember. This makes sense, since I was raised in a household where material possession and acquisition of wealth made way for our overall health. We spent so much time in hospitals and travelling to see specialists, all of our time, efforts and resources as a family went to that. In some ways, in many ways, we were better off as this meant that we learned to enjoy the simpler things in life. A quiet night’s sleep where neither child woke up dying. A warm afternoon of swimming in a local brook or river. It’s true what they say that some of the best things in life are free.
But although money can’t buy happiness, it can alleviate the pressures associated with everyday life that prevent said happiness. That’s the caveat that those who would spout that rhetoric seem to forget. But for the high-salary executive who makes a shit ton of money, the over-extended hours of work and time away from their families, coupled with the stress and burnout of the job, are just some of the negative aspects that they don’t display on their public face. This is why, while one may look at that executive and think they’ve totally got it made, their home and family life are in shambles BECAUSE of their success, instead of being aided by it. As with all other things in life, there must be a balance…
So, what’s the point of all of this? I’ve thrown out a lot of words and used a few sayings and have made a few solid points but the ultimate one for today is that one should be happy with what they’ve got and stop wanting everything they see elsewhere; whether it’s in someone else’s possession or not. Make your goals, work towards your dreams but always remember that the here and now likely isn’t anywhere near as bad as you feel it is because you haven’t reached those goals yet. Money truly doesn’t buy happiness. And even if the grass happens to be greener on the other side, it didn’t get that way on its own. And it usually harbours the same bugs as your own grass does. Food for thought… ☯️
People tend to put a lot of stock and attention into the day of their births. For many, it begins at the very literal day of their birth, where friends and family will gather and celebrate a new addition to the family and beginning of a new life with infinite possibilities and directions. Although there are many cultural and societal origins behind getting one’s cake on during one’s birthday, most sources I’ve read all agree that celebrating the day of one’s birth likely began with the ancient Egyptians, some 3,000 years ago. The population would generally celebrate on the day a new pharaoh was crowned, as this was the day he was “birthed” as a new god. I don’t think I’d get away with trying to proclaim myself as a pharaoh. In modern times, it’s usually observed on the day that one is actually born from their mother’s wombs. This observance usually involves the singing of songs, eating of cake and the giving of gifts to the birthday person. But what purpose does it truly serve?
When one is a child, birthdays can be a fun and exciting day. You get to eat cake and treats, you usually get some gifts out of the deal and if you’re lucky and are attending school, you may have your peers doing something, as well. If you like that sort of thing. For me, I use to absolutely loathe having the entire classroom halted to sing happy birthday to me. So fucking embarrassing… It can seem nice and exciting as a child but as you slowly work your way into adulthood, it can become a tedious hindrance as it seems to be observed more by others than by oneself. Once a person begins to reach adulthood, they’ll often fall under one of two categories; those who are flattered and enjoy being recognized and those who prefer to simply let it pass as just another day. Just like today. Today is a Monday. The sun has risen, I can almost assuredly promise it will set tonight, and billions of people are going on with the daily grind of their lives regardless of this day.
I tend to agree more with the latter. At a young age, I began to acknowledge that my birthday was truly nothing more than a day where I had to get up out of my chair every five minutes for the phone ringing. yes, I’m old enough that I had to get up to use the phone. It was pretty sweet when I was younger and all my relatives would give me birthday cards with cash in them. In retrospect, i wish I had banked all of that cash instead of consistently spending it on toys and useless bullshit. But that’s children for you. Hell, my kids do the same thing now, despite my attempts at bestowing the important knowledge of my experience upon them. But I digress…
These days, I tend to take my birthday as more of a stepping stone to the remainder of the year. A day when others try and recognize that my chronological age has increased by one digit but where I tend to try and stay hidden in a hole until the sun sets and my world can return to some semblance of normalcy. After all, a big point that people tend to forget is that one’s birthday is only one day. There are 364 other days in the year (depending on where in the world you reside and what calendar you observe) and every day that you wake up with air in lungs and life in your body is one you should celebrate. The day of your birth was simply but one of those days. All the subsequent days of your life hold a deeper and more meaningful importance as they likely contains what you DID with that life once it was given to you. And that’s far more worth celebrating than an occasion where your mother was likely in pain; a story she’ll usually be sure to share with you on every birthday (if she remembers). Food for thought… ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 