Category: Opinion

The Meaning Behind The Candles…

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… ☯️

Lean, Mean, And A Few Things In Between…

One’s health and fitness has many moving pieces and sometimes it can be difficult to navigate the vast plethora of bullshit that you can find online nowadays. I say this with the firm understating that I’m reaching you now through an online medium, but I stand by my statement. Even if you set aside all the misinformation or pseudo-science that can be found online, it’s important to remember that what works for one person may not work for another. What’s more is, doing things wrong may cause more harm than good.

This seems like a good time to remind everyone that I’m not a medical practitioner, dietitian or have many formal training. This post is intended solely as my opinion, based on my own experiences. talk to your own doctor before contemplating anything mentioned here. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let’s talk diets and fitness. For most people, dieting generally means either cutting the amount of food you eat or eliminating certain food groups that one may have read contributes to overall weight gain.

The problem with the former, is many people believe that cutting the amount of food they eat will automatically make them lose weight. Although this can occur in some situations, it can also have the opposite effect. Because the human body is programmed to keep you alive no matter what, eliminating your food intake or starving yourself, will usually result in your body hoarding away what you DO eat as fat, which it will then use to sustain you should there be another long period without food. Depending on your metabolism, one should rather examine HOW one eats as opposed to trying to eliminate HOW MUCH they eat.

Another big problem is depending on the almighty scale. People tend to measure progress on the number staring back at them from a scale, but that can be deceiving, as well. The problem includes the fact that if you’re building mass as a result of exercising more frequently, that scale may not be your friend. The whole “muscle weighs more than fat” concept is total bullshit! A pound of fat or a pound of muscle is still one fucking pound. I will die on THAT hill.

But even if you’re waistline is slowly getting smaller, your muscle mass may be getting bigger, which could be why you aren’t seeing the results you want. It’s important to remember that you need to incorporate ALL factors into your fitness journey, including what comes in, what comes out, your weight, your diet and your exercise routine. Each person is unique and even though your neighbour has lost tons of weight from fasting doesn’t mean that will work (or is safe) for you.

I happen to be dealing with my own weight-loss journey at the moment, where I’m dealing with that very scenario. A certain change that one of my martial arts counterparts has tried showed great success and seems to be working for me, as well. More on that in the near future but the important thing to rememher is if you’re dieting, be sure to control aspects such as portion size, frequency of meals and HOW you consume your food. People don’t seem to recognize the amount of damage one can cause by simply trying NOT to eat in order to lose weight.

For example, there’s a reason you need to consume food. Carbohydrates provide a primary source of energy for the body. You know, energy? That thing you need to stay alive and do ANYTHING??? Completely cutting carbs prevents that. Other aspects, like include proper levels of finer and protein, to help with the proper growth and repair of muscle tissue and the normalization of your elimination systems. This means that if you do something du,b like eat nothing but protein, you’ll stop yourself up like a loaded subway car during peak hours in Tokyo. Not pretty…

The key to it all, is balance. Just like you should be taking regular breaks from fitness to allow the body to heal, you also need to find the means to control your portion sizes and still get all the food groups and nutrients you need in order to stay healthy. Fad diets are usually just that; a fad. The complete elimination of entire food groups should be avoided, unless done on the advice and guidance of a medical professional. And for light’s sake… Don’t STOP eating in order to lose weight. To somewhat quote The Mandalorian, this is NOT the way…

Oops, What Have I Done…?

To say that I can occasionally become overzealous with some of my workouts would be a severe understatement. Anyone who has done sparring or drills with me in the past ten years could attest to this. In my home dojo, Sensei always focused on the fact that strength and accuracy, as well as speed, were important for EVERY strike. This means that if you spend a full minute striking a surface like a pad or a punching bag, one should strive to make even the last strike as strong as the first. We all know that once fatigue sets in, this can be a difficult task.

My point, despite the very detailed rant above, is that I always try to strike at full strength while training. I don’t do this against my sparring partners, of course but on pads and punching bags, all bets are off and I make a point of hammering as hard as I humanly can. Although this sounds like a good idea in practice, it can cause some difficulty. For example, going full out will often cause a lack of precision and form, which will affect the overall effectiveness of your technique. But what we’re talking about today, is when one manages to damage their equipment…

The unfortunate, busted stitching on my punching bag…

Last week, during a rather spirited session on the punching bag while listening to my favourite instrumental group, Two Steps From Hell, I somehow managed to deliver a strong enough impact to the bag to bust some of the stitching. I didn’t necessarily realize this until I had completed my workout but I was certainly grateful that the inside wasn’t a bunch of beans or beads that came pouring out once the lining was damaged. As it stands, it appears as though the interior bag is sound and solid, which means I can likely try and find a way to re-stitch the damage or simply do what every other striker does, which is wrap the main body of the bag with duct tape.

That being said, it did bring to mind the importance of ensuring that one’s fitness equipment is sound and undamaged before use. This can be especially important if you’re using some sort of machine or even something that you balance or stand on. In my case, the worst that would have happened is the bag would have collapsed and become unusable. If it’s the welds or mechanism on a weight machine or an exercise machine like a bike or elliptical, one could be in potential danger if one continues to use these items while they’re damaged.

When one decides to hammer out a workout, one will often jump into it without necessarily checking and confirming the safety of their equipment. I’ve certainly been guilty of this a number of times. There hasn’t been an invasion, ever, where I’ve used a public or hotel gym that I’ve double checked the soundness of the machines before I dove in. The damage to my punching bag has certainly made me rethink that approach, as damaged equipment can easily lead to injury.

Much in the same way a driver should do a quick walk around of their vehicle to confirm no flat tires or visible damage to their vehicle, a person should always do a quick check of their equipment prior to working out. This can prevent potential injuries or further damage to the equipment or the surrounding area, should there be damage, of course. Food for thought… ☯️

Polishing The Ol’ Turd…

Home renovations are tedious, and can take a hefty financial and even emotional toll on even the strongest of souls. I’ve seen and heard of people renovating parts of their home that have led to financial difficulty and strife between marital partners that has resulted in separation. And what would one expect, when you dump a whole a whack of your hard-earned dollars into altering aspects of your home? this usually involves moving a whole bunch of shit and maybe having limited use of the one place in this life that’s intended on being your sanctuary and place for peace.

For us, we purchased our current home in 2016 when I was transferred into Regina during my policing career. Although the layout and structure of the house was sound, there were many aspects of it that were reminiscent of the late 1960’s when it was built, such as orange carpet and fake wooden planks on the walls of the basement, outdated wood-grain cabinetry and shitty window that radiate heat in the summer and frost up with ice in the winter. All that being said, we had assumed we’d only be in this house for 3 to 5 years, upon which time I’d be transferred to another posting and we’d be selling. We were wrong.

As a result, we found ourselves in the midst of a complete basement renovation due to structural damage and water leakage. Although not a bank-breaking endeavour, it provided a much-needed facelift to the basement and it’s now a fantastic, liveable space. Completed in late fall of 2021, we had discussed the potential upgrading of the upper floor as well. Back in May, we chose to renovate our upstairs bathroom, as this is one of the key rooms of the home that every family member requires. Through the progress made on our bathroom, we decided that coordinating flooring and drywall for the hallway and bedrooms would be easier if we simply did it all in one go. So we did.

After several long months of living like borders as we had to jam everything from the rear of the house to the front, and having the majority of the family camping out in the basement, we’ve finally completed the renovations and will be able to start moving things back into our respective bedrooms and bathroom. I had the pleasure of using our newly-installed bathtub and I have to say, well worth the money.

Nathan’s bedroom is red, because of course he needs something different…
The new bathroom, with everything fresh and modernized, including a deep tub, stone backsplash and new vanity.
The Master Bedroom

Although only a few months in total (we started in May of this year) it felt like forever and has made living within the home difficult. But the end results speak for themselves and we’re quite happy with how things look. Everything is fresh and new, and it sure is nice to walk along the new flooring without every step making it sound like I weigh a metric ton. Now that all of this has been put into place, we get to start the arduous task of putting everything back in place. A silver lining behind all of that is that it will give us the opportunity to go through all of our respective belongings and begin to Kon Marie the living shit out all of it and hopefully downsize all the non-necessaries within our household.

Although it can be easily agreed that renovations can be stressful and tough to deal with, it can be well worth the effort if you can find it within yourselves to push through and get through so that you can get the results you want. It will be nice to get Nathan back into his room, especially. I think the little booger has gotten to used to having access to a television throughout the night. But doing so will also give me back my fitness corner, which will be nice. Sleeping in my own bed, which I have been unable to do for the past four months, will also be icing on the cake.

The question now, given the rising cost and demand for construction materials and professionals to do the work, will be when we’ll be able to complete renovations on the front half of the house, which includes large windows and a kitchen. It may be a few years before we have the financial resources and the patience to jump into that piranha-infested bullshit again. But it’ll happens eventually. In the meantime, we get to enjoy the efforts of the contractors who performed the work for us. ☯️

Take A Break Before You Break…

Maintaining one’s fitness is an ongoing battle, usually with absolutely no end on sight. Usually and for the most part, people develop and maintain a routine for themselves that isn’t always conducive to proper fitness. one of the big realities, and the one people tend to overlook the most, is that rest is just as important and integral to one’s fitness journey as staying consistent and committed. And foregoing appropriate rest can have some nasty effects on your overall health as well as your fitness goals.

When you have Type-1 Diabetes, proper exercise and maintaining one’s fitness becomes an entirely different kind of fight. Without proper, consistent exercise, blood sugars can run amok, your health will decline and your condition will be all the harder to manage. Granted, some of that can happen even if you DON’T have Diabetes, but I do, so I tend to focus on that. The problem is that you can go past consistency and slowly stray into working out TOO much.

Our bodies are designed to respond to physical exertion in a number of different ways. When it comes to building muscle, growth is achieved by exerting the muscle tissue to the point where micro tears occur. Through the healing process and the proper consumption of protein, fibre and water, the muscle tissue grows back at an increased size to compensate for the level of exertion the body noted during the previous workout. This only part of the aches and pains that one might feel after a significant workout.

The issue comes into play when those aches and pains grow severe enough that you lose mobility or use of those particular muscle groups. For example, if you had a wicked leg day and the following morning, you can barely walk, this means that you’ve over-exerted yourself and you should consider taking a period of rest and treating the affected area with heat and/or cold to aid in the healing process. To continue to work out and exercise in those circumstances can lead to injury, which would require longer recovery time and some circumstances, medical intervention.

So, what can or should be done in these types of circumstances? Well, some people rotate the muscle groups that they exercise. This means that if they do leg exercises today, they may do arms and chest tomorrow. That kind of thing. That’s a good practice to have, regardless of the level of exertion that you put yourself through, especially since you should work towards developing the body as a whole and not necessarily focus on only one aspect. But it’s important to bear in mind that resting one particular part of your body isn’t always enough. N o matter you’re level of commitment or your goals, you sometimes need to allow the body as a whole to get some rest.

A strong, consistent fitness habit will help to ensure better health, better weight management and better overall blood sugar control. proper exercise contributes to better blood pressure, better sleep habits and has been shown to improve one’s overall mood. Although having a fixed routine doesn’t always work for every person as each of us is different, there’s always a way to work towards something that works for you. Just remember to drink plenty of fluids, get adequate rest and don’t push your body beyond the warning signs it’s giving you. You’ll recover faster and although you may think that working out none-stop will get you to your goals faster, it’s good to remember that sometimes, slow and easy wins the race. Food for thought… ☯️

Good Form, Top Form, Bad Form, No Form…

Given the westernization of the martial arts, a lot of people think of fighting, kicking and punching as soon as they hear the word “karate.” This is unfortunately a very narrow and uninformed view, as any style of martial arts involves so very much more. The martial arts is a lifelong puzzle of a million pieces, with the student’s goal being to obtain a new piece with every session, adding to overall tableau of their martial arts journey. But it wouldn’t be the only thing that the western world gets wrong.

For example, let’s look at the word “karate.” The actual martial art is called “karate do.” A practitioner does not “do karate.” They practice/study/train in karate do and the student is actually referred to as a karateka. These may seem like somewhat menial details that don’t change a great deal but to someone who still adheres to the traditions and old ways of studying the art, they can mean quite a bit. And that doesn’t always mesh well with the modern world and people’s need for immediate gratification. A great example of this phenomenon, is kata…

For those who don’t study martial arts, kata is a Japanese word for “form,” and usually involves a formal, pre-arranged sequences of techniques and blocks. Kata serves multiple purposes, including creating muscle memory to help the practitioner perfect the skills they’re trying to memorize. In Uechi Ryu, kata also helps to strengthen and build muscle as the dynamic tension used in the body during kata is constant (or should be). Kata can be performed slowly or quickly, depending on the stage of training the student is in, and can be used to hone one’s skills as easily as sparring or using a bag.

In most cases, you learn your techniques in a more proper manner during kata, since you aren’t striking a surface and can develop your bone alignment and proper posture BEFORE you start actually hitting something. Granted, it should be one or the other; kata and active striking should be used in tandem, depending on the student’s level of skill and experience. The issue with the modern practitioner is that a kata can be slow work and requires a degree of time and patience that most people nowadays seem to lack.

Although kata doesn’t seem as glamorous or exciting as learning spin kicks and fancy techniques (which my style doesn’t incorporate anyway), form is every bit as important as learning to punch and kick properly. It’s important to remember that everything taught in the martial arts serves a purpose. No thing is for nothing. So even if doing kata may seem boring now, sticking with it will help you get stronger, faster and polish up you or techniques to increase your overall martial arts toolbox. If you’ve ever seen the original Karate kid movies, one of the things they got right was when they said that in karate, not everything is always as it seems. Cue the pan flute soundtrack… ☯️

A Little Perspective…

Throughout the course of my life, I’ve had to put up with a lot of misinformation and “helpful” suggestions from friends and family regarding how to better manage my Diabetes. Over the decades, I’ve had people try and tell me how to adjust my diet, my exercise regiment and even my insulin and medication dosages; all in the interest of trying to help. Surprisingly enough, 99% of the time, this unsolicited advice has come from folks who are neither Type-1 Diabetes themselves, nor do they have someone close to them who is (besides me, of course).

One of the big problems with how I’ve managed my Diabetes throughout the decades is that I almost have an invisible illness. People don’t assume I have Diabetes to look at me. I have sight in both my eyes, although the injections don’t make that easy, all my organs are clear and function normally and I have all my limbs and appendages without ever requiring amputation. Admittedly, this is pretty rare for someone who was diagnosed over 40 years ago and has suffered through some of the complications I have, as a child. This can make it pretty easy to assume that your granola-crunching ways may hold the key to healing me. But it doesn’t.

For example, quite some years ago I had someone I was associated with, who tried to convince me that if I switched to eating only vegetables (not becoming a vegetarian, mind you. Simply eating nothing BUT vegetables) I would no longer be Diabetic and would no longer require insulin injections. I can just read my tombstone now: “Here Lies The Blogging Buddhist. Died With A Turnip In His Hands…” Cue the sad music… This approach obviously wouldn’t work, for a wide variety of reasons. But it’s a good example of how I’ve often received “advice” from people who know nothing about the condition I live with. Here are a few more…

I Have This Diet That Will Heal You! First and most importantly, there is no diet that heals or reverses Type-1 Diabetes. This is often a common beliefs because in some rare cases, diet and lifestyle changes can help reverse the effects of Type-2 Diabetes. The problem is that Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes are significantly different conditions, basically only similar in name. My body’s own immune system is attacking my insulin-producing cells, resulting in my condition. There is no diet that can repair or reverse that. Keep your tofu, natural diet alternative shit off my plate! I’ve already taken insulin for the carbs.

Can’t You Just Exercise More And Eat Less? You Wouldn’t Need Insulin Then, Right? Ah, the age old question… If insulin reduces your blood sugar levels, can’t you just consume less sugar to keep it from rising and exercise more to balance it out? No. No, I can’t. There are many reasons why this can’t be a thing and why people who became Type-1 Diabetic usually never survived beyond two weeks, prior to the 1920’s. Insulin is hormone and it performs several functions within the body.

The main functions and the important ones, include controlling your body’s blood sugar levels by helping sugar enter your cells to be used for energy. Energy… You know, that shit you need in order to stay alive? Yeah, that. Insulin also helps the body to store the excess energy for later use and helps to balance out your body’s weight and metabolism. Without insulin, a whole mess of nasty shit starts happening inside your body, resulting in a slow, painful way to die. So, no, Karen! I can’t just exercise more and eat less.

It can be easy to misinterpret or misunderstand someone else’s condition, especially if you’ve never experienced it or had a family member who has. What’s important to realize is that most people with Type-1 Diabetes have received professional medical care for their condition and know what they need to do. Some random diet you’ve found in a magazine or fitness ideas without the benefit of how the condition actually affects the person’s body won’t be helpful. And believe me when I say, we’ve heard them all before. Food for thought… ☯️

On The Run Doesn’t Have To Mean Without Fun…

Growing up, my household had a bit of a wash, rinse and repeat approach to meals. For the most part and being raised by a French Acadian mother meant that feeding a group of people involved tossing meat, potatoes and veggies into a giant pot and boiling it until it became mush. usually served with dinner rolls and pickled beets, this was also the ONLY meal my grandmother ever served; a testament to a leaner time when wartime families had to feed a dozen people or more at every meal.

As grateful as I am for having had the opportunity for a warm plate on my table growing up, there’s no arguing that it seriously influenced how I choose to consume my meals now, as an adult. Throughout school, I was always burdened with the same ol’ peanut butter sandwich without the benefit of adding jelly, due to the sugar content. It became tedious and boring and i usually dreaded lunch time as something to get through as opposed to a period to sit, enjoy a meal and contemplate the events of the day. Things have changed…

As an adult, I find myself dealing with the same challenge of bringing lunch for myself that doesn’t involve something generic and won’t throw a significant curve ball against my blood sugars. I usually have breakfast AND lunch at work, which allows me to get to work a bit early so that I can get a jumpstart on my day. This morning for example, I had a leftover boiled egg from yesterday’s potato salad. carb-free and filling enough to get me through my morning, it was a good option.

So what about lunch? The big problem I had during my youth is that the classic sandwich poses logistic issues that, from a flavour standpoint, can’t be ignored. If one makes their sandwich first thing in the morning and includes all the constituent parts, t you run the risk of having things sit and meld together in a way that may cause your bread to get soggy or the flavours of certain ingredients to change, once they absorb some of the others. Refrigerating a sandwich over several hours will also tend to alter the flavour and let’s be honest, who really thinks a cold sandwich is tasty?

The alternative is simple; be willing to do some assembly DURING your lunch hour. I’ll use yesterday as an example. I packed a large, flour tortilla into a sandwich bag. provided they’re fresh, they’ll be plenty flexible and will fold nicely. Then, pack some shredded cheese and your preferred sauce in small, reusable containers. Then, I chose my meat, which on this occasion was some very lovely slow cooker chicken that my wife had prepared the day before. Keeping all these ingredients separated prevents the flavours from mixing with one another, come lunchtime. Another thing you prevent is needing to heat the meat portion of your meal with condiments that likely shouldn’t be nuked. Ever try reheating fries that already had ketchup on them? It usually doesn’t go well…

The benefit with allowing yourself some time to assemble your meal at lunch time is you’ll get a better, fresher tasting meal and you have the opportunity to heat up your protein without heating up your wrap or condiments and sauces. This can apply to a number of different meals. Today, for example, I’ve brought a small bowl of homemade chili with a container of cheese. Sprinkle a bit of buffalo sauce in that bad boy after heating it up, mix in the cheese and allow the heat of the chili to melt it just a bit and you’re off to the races.

So, this all rather feels like a first world problem and it begs the question, why am I bringing it up? Well, for a number of reasons. The first being that just because you’re having a meal at work doesn’t meal it should be an enjoyable experience. Fast meals intended to be jammed down your gullet so you don’t starve during your shift shouldn’t be the norm. I say this while fully acknowledging that some folks only have a brief window for meal breaks. I, myself, never had a scheduled meal break while I was a police officer.

That being said, and something I learned a long time ago, is that a rushed, stressed meal period will also affect one’s blood sugars. Although every meal can’t be a pageant, being able to take the time to actually consume your meal without rushing and having a hot alternative in front of you can have a significant impact on one’s blood sugars. Given everything else that’s affected by Type-1 Diabetes, it should be no surprise that event he way you consume your food can have an impact. Just something to consider. Food for thought, pun fully intended…☯️

Mellow Out With Some Melatonin…

This is one of those posts where I need to be very clear in that I am in no way a medical professional and everything outlined below is strictly my opinion and what I’ve noted from my own experiences. It’s important to consult and discuss any new supplementation with your doctor or medical practitioner before starting to take it. This is especially true of anyone with Type-1 Diabetes since, as you know, just about everything affects us in some given way, shape or form. Moving on…

I’ve had some recent experiences with Melatonin supplements and I thought I would share my personal findings, since it seems to be all the rage these days. I say these days, but Melatonin has been researched for decades and first started to be used as a nutritional supplement in the 1990’s, with it becoming licensed for use in Canada in the early 2000’s. You can find some at just about any pharmacy and many retail outlets and it will usually come in gummies or pill form.

So, let’s start with the basic question… What the fuck is Melatonin? Simply put, it’s a hormone that’s naturally produced by your oft. When it gets dark out, the body is triggered to produce Melatonin, which signals your body to sleep. This is why you read so many sources that tell you to stop staring at screens at least half an hour before bed; because light reduces your body’s Melatonin production. For the purposes of this post, I’ll be discussing my use of Melatonin supplements, which are artificially created and packaged.

I recently had the opportunity to try Melatonin after my wife purchased some from a local distributor. She had been having troubles falling asleep and thought to try them herself. One night, when I found myself wide awake and on a night off, I decided to give one a try. Hers were in gummy form and contained 2.5 milligrams of Melatonin. I took one about half an hour before I planned on going to bed and spent the majority of the night up. It had done nothing. The following night, I took two gummies, which gave me 5 milligrams of Melatonin. The difference was amazing. I fell asleep nicely and not only did I get a full, uninterrupted night’s sleep, I woke up refreshed and without any grogginess or sluggishness.

Being cognizant of my responsibilities during the day, I chose not to repeat the attempt the following night. That came later, during the next weekend. However, 5 milligrams now appeared to have no effect. I made my peace with the possibility that I had built up a resistance to it, which would be problematic of a hormone one’s body produces naturally. It wasn’t until some time later when I was shopping at a local retailer, that I found over-the-counter pills for 10 milligrams of Melatonin. I grabbed a bottle and brought it to a pharmacist to discuss. We went over the medications I was on and finding no complications or interactions, I bought the bottle and brought it home.

I took a single, 10 milligram pill about half an hour before bed and found myself once again drifting off to a solid night of uninterrupted sleep. It was glorious. As it was the weekend, I had the benefit of repeating the experiment the following night, with the same results. Apparently 10 milligrams is my sweet spot. I’ve made a point to stay away from taking some every night but it’s been very effective for me in helping to reset my proper sleep cycle and get a good night’s sleep. A couple of nights of taking it consistently at the same time and I now get tired and feel the need to go to sleep on my own, even without it.

The important thing to remember is the same as with all supplements. Be mindful of your uses, side effects and any possible interactions with other medications you may be on. WebMD, one of my favourite medical websites, has a great article that covers many of these aspects. You can read it here. Personally, none of the medications I take appear to interact with the Melatonin and my blood sugars have remained consistent. I haven’t experienced ANY of the possible side effects listed for short term or prolonged use. I will note that the instructions on the bottle recommend short-term use.

All in all, I’m reasonably satisfied that the supplement is doing its job; resetting my sleep cycle and allowing me to get a good night’s sleep. It’s also the first supplement I’ve ever taken that doesn’t appear to require continued use to enjoy the effects. I usually only take them on the weekends but my sleep during weeknights appear to be more consistent now. I don’t know. The rest of you will have to try and judge for yourself, considering every person is different. But I have to say that although I hadn’t even heard of this stuff before my wife brought it in the house, I’ll admit that I could have used it to help with sleep cycle years ago. Just remember to be cautious and check with your doctor before getting too far into it. ☯️

Full Circle…

Alright so, as if it wasn’t bad enough that I only seem to be posting once a week in recent months, I’m going to use a post today to brag about something I’ve purchased. I know, I know, that’s not very Buddhist-like but what can I say; I am a product of my Western environment. Maybe there’s more work to be done in that area and may be this is the wake-up call I need in order to do it. For today, I’m simply going to enjoy the ride (you’ll see why that’s funny in a minute).

All the way back in 1995, I saved up all my money as well as some inheritance I had gotten from family, and purchased my first vehicle. My choices were few and far between, considering the amount of cash I had available, and I was adamant on purchasing that vehicle on my own. It didn’t prevent the fact that as a minor, my parents would still need to register the vehicle in their name. But the honour of paying for the vehicle itself was still mine and mine alone.

My parents were totally on board with me purchasing a vehicle for myself. Besides the fact that I had reached an age where I would be able to drive myself to school and start looking for more work, it also allowed for me to run errands for my parents when needed, which freed them up for their own work, as well. All Lin all, it would serve the entire family, which made it a smart choice and a good resource for the entire family. Still with me? Good. Moving on.

After a few weeks of searching, I finally found a used vehicle I could afford with my humble savings. And that vehicle was a 1983 Toyota Tercel hatchback. This bad boy was red, two-door and had an after-market tape deck with an amplifier and after-market speakers installed in the hatchback. They had turned the tires outwards so that the white stripe was showing, giving the car a sharp, racing look. It was also a piece of shit. There were rust stains, the seal around the windshield was curling up and the upholstery smelled like the previous owner must have owned a dog.

I gave up my savings to purchase the vehicle and had my father drive it home, since it was a manual transmission and I didn’t know how to operate a manual transmission. Once we had it home, I tore into that bad boy with the kind of fervour I reserved only for karate classes. I scrubbed and shampooed the interior until it glistened. I washed and polished the outside until I could see my face in it. I polished that red turd until even the most discerning of critics couldn’t dispute that it was hell on wheels. A veritable carriage for my shenanigans. The transport towards my future.

I absolutely loved that car and went everywhere with it. It had a very weak engine with a 3-gear manual transmission. That didn’t stop me from ripping all over town like a maniac. It only had a driver’s side mirror, which apparently wasn’t illegal at the time the car was sold. I also had to learn how to drive a manual transmission from scratch. I’m surprised I didn’t blow the transmission out of that bastard in the first week. But I learned. And I drove.

That car served me extremely well for several years, including getting me to college and back home for two years. I remember one year, the heater gave out and the windshield would frost on the inside, forcing my passengers and I to scrape the inside of the windshield every few minutes. It was a brutal act and it met a brutal end. One day while trying to overtake a vehicle on the highway, I blew out the engine. That’s what I get for red-lining the RPM’s on a dinky 4-cylinder engine. But I digress.

Over the years, I’ve held fond memories of that car. It was the first vehicle I ever owned. The first vehicle I went on a road trip on my own with, the first vehicle I travelled out of town, out of Province and out of control. It’s carried friends, family, loved ones and more burger wrappers and empty coffee cups than I can count. It brings up an important point regarding perspective. By my own standards today, I would never purchase such a dilapidated, trusted vehicle with unreliable parts and a danger to my family and I. But back then, that piece of shit was like a Rolls Royce to me…

That brings us to the here and now. As I’ve grown into adulthood, owning a vehicle has become more of a household necessity and convenience than the liberating tool of freedom it was considered in my teens and twenties. Throughout the majority of our relationship, my wife and I have pretty much always owned two vehicles. This has made it easy to have one of us at work and the other still capable of running errands and doing their own thing. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic kicked in and I found myself sitting at home for a significant period of time, paying for two vehicles seemed redundant, so I sold my car.

The new mirth mobile

However, recent events have prompted us to once again purchase a second, smaller vehicle for me to use to get to work and run errands (“recent events” meaning I backed our SUV and smashed out one of the mirrors). I purchased the used vehicle you see above. It’s clean, in perfect working condition and is new-to-me. Limited mileage and a smooth ride, it sits a bit lower to the ground and has some significant peppiness for a vehicle so easy on fuel. It’s bee great.

The irony is that my first car was a Toyota hatchback. And although it took effectively twenty five years, I appear to have come full circle with yet another Toyota hatchback. Some people need their muscle cars or sports cars, motorbikes or leisure vehicle. Me, I just need something easy on gas that lets me hug the road. The household is now adjusting to the fact that even if I’m work, my wife can still run errands, attend appointments and bring the boys on outings. Things have changed since I was a younger man. A car is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a bit of nostalgia in the process. Food for thought… ☯️