The avalanche begins with a pair of little red shoes… beware!

We are the ONLY animals on this planet that has any concept of finances - and what’s worse, some of us even harm others in its pursuit.

What is materialism?

Materialism means the pursuit of stuff to improve our status, self-esteem (emotional value) or perceived value both personal and culturally. It has no limits other then how much stuff you can acquire over a lifetime. For some, materialism is defined by how much land you can acquire, how much you can grow your net worth by or things as trivial as how many different types of hockey cards you can collect.

Materialism gone wild

I see this mostly in the industrialized world because unlike developing countries, we have the financial resources and spare time to accumulate things not required for our own survival. Some people must always have the latest and greatest while for others it’s a numbers game. As for me, I couldn’t care less what I have much less what others think I should have which makes me a marketers worse nightmare

The good side of being materialistic

There are positive aspects of being a materialistic person. The most obvious is that there are constant challenges as marketers create “must-haves” in smaller product development cycles - before a product would be updated maybe once a year, now for somethings, it’s down to a few months for such things as cell phones. Materialistic people that I know feel great comfort being surrounded by “their stuff”, they get a feeling of accomplishment by looking at what they worked to acquire and if there is ever a nuclear war - these pack rats are a mana from God!

The bad side of materialism

Although there are heavy environmental, social and economic costs in creating a bunch of useless junk, I believe the largest is to ones self. If all your time, effort and investment is put into “stuff” and not “yourself” - what happens when all that stuff goes away? Our culture teaches kids that what you look like and acquire makes who you are as a person - nothing can be further from the truth but sadly, most people take the words from the modern marketing engine over those from within.

One persons junks….

… is another’s treasure - we have all heard this many times… and I think it highlights exactly how worthless our “stuff” really is. If you had 10 000 pounds of chocolate in the Mayan culture you would probably be treated like a living God - purchase 10 000 chocolate bars from Walmart and people will question your sanity! This same analogy can be applied towards just about every other thing we carry around with us, from designer jeans to even rocks… yes, in the 1970s, there was a huge fad across the USA where people would spend lots of money buying “pet rocks”.

Need to Want

I think this ever increasing trend towards materialism started when we no longer had to hunt, gather or build for our survival. When people make so much money (even the working poor) that they can afford to purchase their own food and purchase a roof over their heads then it means they are open to splurging on non-essential items. It may begin with brand name shampoo and as the wealth increases, goes onto cars, boats and even jets for the “lucky” few.

The Bottom Line

Materialism is a temporary state of being - don’t allow it to define your actions or self-worth.

One of the many possible faces of an immortal being… in this case, one that has chosen to end their own existence at your breakfast table

We see the theme of immortality being repeated throughout our culture, from vampire movies to cybernetic beings… but honestly - if it was possible to be immortal - would you want it?

Immortality - what is it?

Immortality is the basic idea that you simply cannot die. Everything in our universe is mortal in one form or another, even our Sun will “die” as a gas giant in a few billion years from now taking much of our solar system along with it. I think the only thing that is immortal within our known understanding are individual atoms but even their fate is sealed when our universe ends and the what we take now as the fundamental laws of physics break down along with it.

The romantic side of immortality

In my opinion, the “nice” thing about immortality is the ability to be unshackled by the chains of time. Imagine being able to take your time and learn EVERYTHING, want to spend a few hundred years becoming the ruler of the world - not a problem when you know all your “competitors” are mortal. Want to travel to far off galaxies, again, not a problem - even if it takes millions of years - you don’t need any food, water or much less shelter to get there. The universe would become your playground. The romantic side of being immortal is that you essentially become a God… who wouldn’t want that?

Types of Immortality

I think there are two different types of immortality

Special Powers of Immortals

If you where immortal, you would need special powers to simply exist.

Immortality - would you want it?

As for me, if it was an option who ever was giving me this power wouldn’t have to ask me twice. I think it would be fun for a while but once everything is known and experienced - I would instantly vaporize myself as any reason for being would no longer have any value.

The Bottom Line

There is so much out there beyond our meager existence, embrace the options as unlike God, we have the infinite power of mortality

Every summer I take 2-3 months completely OFF weight training, I think it’s important to allow the body to completely heal from injuries done to the muscular and mental systems.

Why take time off?

Think of our body like a car, if you go all-out all the time, expect the engine to not last very long… our bodies are no different. Each time you do strenuous activity, you are causing damage to every part of your body. It’s this very damage that leads the body to rebuild slightly stronger. If you ever met professional bodybuilders or power lifters and talked to them for a little bit, you will be amazed at how much pain they build up within their body over time… their bodies look AMAZING but you wouldn’t want to be in those bodies first thing in the morning

By time off I do not mean resorting to a couch potato existence, I mean replacing what was once very strenuous exercise will less strenuous ones while keeping to the same diet. There is such a thing as taking “time off” a little too seriously, at which point you are harming yourself.

Don’t you loose all your gains?

There is no way around it, when you stop doing strenuous activity for an extended period of time, you will begin to “loose” the stronger body you once had. If you took drugs (ei: steroids, GH etc.) to achieve those gains then those looses are even more dramatic. If you keep to your diet and activity level (ei: brisk walking instead of weight train) then your body will adapt but the looses aren’t that big a deal and easily reversible.

What happened to me?

My normal weight is about 175lbs, anything above that is a heck of an uphill battle - I still got up to 195lbs once but I was constantly eating and although my strength was up, so was my gut

Using the myfoodcount.com systems, I kept track of how my body transformed. At the end of June I stopped all weight training activity, at that time I had a BMI of 25.36 and weighed 167lbs (I had just changed my level of activity which caused a leaning out - search my blog for old man syndrome). We are now the end of September and my BMI has changed to 23.69 and I now weight 156lbs soaking wet. So I lost a little more than 3lbs of weight per month during my weight training break. My physical body changed quite dramatically, I use to be able to flex in the mirror and see my muscles, now they all seem very flat in comparison - I lost both size and depth.

Holly Cow! You must feel bad loosing all that…

Actually, I took a little longer break then I intended due to various reasons but do I feel bad at loosing what I spent so many years building… NO… NOT AT ALL! You see, before my break I use to wake up with my joints cracking and although I changed to a less heavy but more frequent regimen - I still had some stiffness waking up in the morning. Guess what, I may not sleep as good as I use to but all those little snap, crackles and pops I had before are all gone… I have given my body the time it needed to repair the damage.

Muscle Memory

I also have one more huge thing in my corner, muscle memory. The effects of muscle memory are not to be underestimated… basically my muscles remember the “old” me and when I go back into the activity level that got me the body I once had, it will come back very fast compared to a person who is just starting out at the gym. I may have lost an inch off my arms and 2 inches from my waist with a drop in strength but hitting the weights again will get them to return and I will be right back where I was before the break in about 2 months. The foundation of the “bigger me” is still there, its only the building that lost a few floors

Two steps forward, one step back

If you are into a healthy lifestyle for the long run (ei: your entire life), then you must take a two steps forward, one step back approach. If you are always moving forward physically, unless you are being professionally trained and monitored consistently - you will begin loosing your edge and progress will slow down dramatically either from over training or boredom. All that wear and tear builds up, even if you don’t feel it… it’s still there waiting to come out - like a tear, pull or other health problems. I took 3 months off but I am only two months away from the body I once had - if I had kept going the way I was, my body would probably be slightly better but at the cost of my lifelong health.

Note of caution

When you get back into your old regimen after any extended period of time, remember to slowly ease yourself back in… although the foundation is still there, your ligaments and muscles aren’t so give your body a few weeks to build back up their prior strength, ligaments may take a few months to adapt. If you do not warn your body about what your mind is doing, expect lots of pain and possibly a serious injury.

The Bottom Line

If you play hard, remember to relax hard every once in a while as well

About once a year, I head up to visit relatives and look forward to returning into a very simple life where you are surrounded by the forest and eat what it has provided. It’s a wonderful way to reflect on ones life and the environment we all live in.

Cost of modern life

We seem to all know the benefits of our modern North American life, from great medical care to top notch education for all but there are also great costs that come with our habits towards over-consumption. Health problems, environmental degradation, mental disorders and self-esteem garnered from what we can buy instead of who we can be. No matter how our lives play out, we choose each step of the way the direction it will take in the future.

Life “back in the good-old-days”

Let there be no illusion, life in the good-old-days was extremely difficult - it involved a lot of physical labor, sacrifice and hardship. A simple medical condition cured with pills today where often a death sentence. We tend to think life back then was simpler, it was but in many other ways, it was also more complex. You see, life before our modern conveniences involved a constant search for food stability and predictability - there where no grocery stores and food spoiled quickly. If you had no food, you starved - if you had no clean water, you took a gamble - if you had no shelter, none was provided. There where no real governments to “back you up”, if you had problems you where mostly on your own to deal with them and if you wanted to travel anywhere, it was done with great reservations. It was truly the survival of the fittest and the further you go back, the more extreme the conditions.

Up North Vacation

While I was on vacation going from cottage to hunting cabins for a weeks time, I was reminded of how rewarding a simple life can be - if you are hungry, catch a fish or hunt, if you are cold, put some more wood on the fire, if you are dirty, jump in a lake or river, if you are tired, sleep… now that is simple living at its best! Time also has no meaning in nature, it’s either night or day - there are no “landmarks” to indicate the year, day of the week or what the weather will be like tomorrow. Nature is timeless - it’s only our modern lifestyles that require the precision of time. I guess spending most of my life in this materially driven world I forgot for a few moments that money isn’t necessary for living a fulfilling life - I never saw a squirrel go without nuts because his wallet was empty

Life today

Todays life is so far beyond our ancestors wildest dreams that I am sure they would be amazed at how much we take for granted and if they where to return, would take the story of their adventures in heaven The Internet, machinery, bio-pharmaceuticals and technology of every shape and kind… our current world is truly astounding! Even the simple luxury of flushing a toilet was something only Kings could afford a little over 100 years ago. Instead of wondering where our next meal will come from, we waste our time with fashion, television, vanity and a host of other distractions - we have so much spare time that many people in our society simply loose focus on who they are and resort towards abusing their own bodies to feel alive via over-consumption. Obesity in the good old days was RARE but not unheard of, now it’s common place, families stayed together for generations, now many kids send their parents to old age residences and before we could eat fish to our hearts content, now we worry about mercury poisoning… there is simply so much over-abundance for us living the modern lifestyle that we have forgotten what is important in life and cruise through life on autopilot. We tend to even look down upon the plight of “uncivilized” cultures and even worse, take advantage of their situation to benefit our own. We are so inundated with worthless junk that many of us have lost the meaning of what it means to be alive.

Finding Balance

By keeping physically fit, appreciating everything we have and not forgetting where we came from I believe a balance can be easily achieved - it does take time, commitment and work but there really is a way to juggle the advances of the modern day without the hardships of the past. We do not have to choose between modern vs past, we can steer our lives towards the benefits that each provides.

Solitude isn’t a bad thing

As I was paddling my kayak right before sunset on a calm source fed lake, I stopped in the middle of the lake and did nothing, you know what I heard? NOTHING! No, it wasn’t for a few seconds, it was for as long as I wanted… the simple act of hearing absolutely NOTHING is something so few of us know about. As I write this, I hear traffic passing by, I can close my windows, put on ear plugs but no matter what I do, I simply am unable to achieve the absolute solitude and serenity I experienced on the lake about a week ago. Knowing there is nobody around for miles and you are completely alone with your thoughts is better then any vacation you can take. We should all be as lucky to experience this in our lives. Solitude isn’t a bad thing, it’s a wonderful thing.

The Bottom Line

How can I find optimum benefit ratio between our modern day lives and our ancient past?

Salt is an essential mineral for much of the life on this planet and it’s actually the only mineral we need to consume on a regular basis to maintain good health.

Where does salt come from?

Without getting too technical, all salt comes from the sea floor. Think of our oceans as huge mixing pots, on the surface of our planet we have rivers that constantly feed our oceans vast amounts of weathered debris that have too many or too little ions. While at the bottom of our oceans we have huge fields of volcanoes that produce mostly hydrogen and chloride ions. Through various biological processes, all the dissolved materials from the river and volcanoes are used up except for sodium and chloride ions.

Over time, the concentration of sodium and chloride become so great that they form a solid precipitate called sodium chloride (halite) in the water. When you eat something containing salt, what instantly happens is that your body separates the sodium chloride into sodium and chloride.

Salt for Food

What did people use to preserve their food before modern day refrigeration? SALT! Salt is so essential to cooking that you will rarely find a kitchen without a healthy supply of it on hand at all times. Adding salt to water increases its boiling temperature thus reducing the cooking time, it makes peeling hard boiled eggs an easier task, deodorizes closed containers and kitchen surfaces, kill and inhibit mold and bacteria from forming on food. Salt is also used for seasoning dishes and even used by chefs the world over to convert their pots and pans into temporary non-stick ones for cooking!

Salt in everyday life

We don’t just eat salt, we also use it to improve our lifestyle. Salt is put on roads in the winter to dissolve ice by decreasing its freezing point, used as a deodorant for various industrial processes and used to stop grease fires dead in their tracks. It’s used heavily as an essential mineral within many heat exchangers (coolants), combining waste products together, turning toxic materials into benign ones and even as a base substance in the process of manufacturing glass, paper, textiles and glazes. Many of us even have water conditioners in our homes that use salt to turn hard water into soft.

Salt and our health

Salt has been used for eons to clean wounds and prevent infection, reduce the likeliness of developing hypothermia, disinfecting our water and for people suffering from lung conditions, clear their air pathways. Excess or lack is also believed to be a risk factor for developing hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other ailments. Excess salt intake causes our bodies to hold more water, thus leading towards a rounded undefined look - it’s also thought to be a big player in the epidemic of obesity ravaging our cultures.

The Bottom Line

Salt is import for all of us, lets give it the respect it deserves and stop abusing it.