Life in Your Years Blog: Health, Finance, & More

Jonathan recently posted about the “little things” in his life, and I thought I would copy his idea. During the winter months, the little things matter more to me, because I am not a huge fan of the winter. My winters are generally not too bad, but I often struggle with them, because I like being outdoors.

About 5 years ago, I was going through a lot of stress, and that was probably my worst winter ever. One day I walked out of the house and the cloudy sky just made me feel trapped, a sort of claustrophobia caused by the dreary winter. I vowed to never have a winter like that again! So for me, it always helps to focus on the little things during winter. Note that these are little things that I am focusing on; I am not necessarily elaborating upon the big things like family, belief in God, etc, things that are foundational to my life.

Coffee – Like my brother, I enjoy the winter trips to Duncan Donuts for hot, creamy, coffee, but I don’t have one in my area, so usually I usually go to Tim Horton’s, which I like just as well. Most Fridays at work, we make a “Tim Horton’s run” where ones of us “buys” and the other “flies.” Jennifer and I also have gourmet Starbucks coffee that we got for Christmas that we brew at home, so I get a lot of good coffee. In the summer, I get more excited about iced coffee.

Work – I like my work. I live about a 1 minute drive from work, and work from about 7:30 until 3:00. This gives me time in the late afternoon to schedule appointments, take care of business, spend more time with family and friends, and go to the Y before dinner time. I am friends with my co-workers, and I have a good group of students.

Prayer – I enjoy my daily prayer. I often pray the Liturgy of the Hours, which is the daily, liturgical, prayer of the Catholic Church. I try to pray morning prayer and night prayer with my wife. It helps orient and structure my day.

Sauna and Hot Tub – Lately I have taken a more relaxing view about the Y. I do my full workout every other day if I can, but afterward I usually sit in the hot tub and then spend a little time in the sauna (steam or regular, depending on my mood). Recently, I have been going to the Y some on my “off days” just to walk a little and relax, because the weather prevents us from walking around our neighborhood like we do in the spring, summer, and fall. Afterward I hit the hot tub and sauna, and it is just what the doctor ordered this time of year!

Facebook – I am not on Facebook all that much, but I do enjoy keeping up with old friends and new ones. Outside of Facebook, I just have no way of meaningfully knowing that much about what my friends, old and new, are up to. Facebook provides that connection.

Working Out – I am finally seeing the kind of gains I have wanted for years. By this, I mean things like defined abs, low body fat percentage, etc. I am not always motivated to go the the Y, but once I am there, and run about a mile, I am ready to give myself a great workout.

Fitday – I have gone from Fitday being a necessary chore to an enjoyable habit. I have a naturally inquisitive mind, and I like having a record of my diet and exercise handy so I can track changes in mood, weight, etc, and see how my diet and exercise contribute to this.

Today is the first day of autumn. Here the weather is already pretty chilly at night, although the days are still pretty hot. We haven’t had to use our air conditioner for a few weeks, which is pretty nice, saving us some nice money. I love the fall. There is football season, mild but chilly weather, colorful leaves, Halloween & Halloween parties, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Advent, Thanksgiving, pumpkin flavored everything (especially pie), and a certain smell of dried leaves and foliage that mixes well with the cool fall air to create something you have to experience. There are probably many more things I am forgetting. I also kind of like being able to wear sweaters, and usually by October this is possible. However, I will miss a lot of what I liked about the summer. I won’t be able to run outside as much as the weather gets colder, and things like golf become less feasible, but there is always next summer.

A study done by the supplier of the supplement maker Relora shows that Americans are more stressed out today than they were a year ago. According to the study, the major stressors (in order of effect on Americans) are financial issues, work-related stress, lack of time, health concerns, family problems, and relationship issues. And our ways of coping aren’t exactly healthy: eating comfort foods and watching TV were the top methods of relieving this stress! This study was mentioned in the print version of the recent Natural Products Insider.

Image taken by me last fall

This past weekend, the stores seemed to be getting ready for autumn, so naturally we obliged and bought a few pumpkin flavored products that we usually buy this time of year: Edy’s Pumpkin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Spice Coffee, and canned pumpkin (to make Jennifer’s super lite, sugar free, Pumpkin muffins). It has been cold enough in the mornings that it really does feel like Fall! Nothing beats enjoying a cool breeze while drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee.

Dad bought us some wooden stakes and some chicken fencing at a hardware store yesterday, so we could finally take the pile of grass clippings in our yard and turn it into a real compost pile. Our city doesn’t accept grass clippings in the weekly garbage pick-up, but we can take them to the city compost pile for free. Rather than deal with wet grass clippings in our car, we decided to just start our own pile, and in turn have some fertilizer for our plants next year. It’s nothing too exciting, but it is one of the first things I have built for our home. Mind you, it is very, very, simple, and not too pretty to look at, but as I told Jennifer, “relax, we’re building a pen for waste…how nice does it have to look?” I happen to have a few “Do-It-Yourself” type books on my wishlist at Amazon, so I can maybe try my hand at fixing/making a few things in the future. I’ll be honest, being a homeowner has already been changing me…I never understood until now why my dad actually gets a real thrill from looking at, buying, and using tools! Anybody else feel this way?

So why compost? Well, besides providing fertilizer for next year’s plants, composting helps keep waste management costs down because compostable materials don’t end up in landfills, filled in garbage bags made of plastic. If enough people composted there would be fewer garbage trucks on the road, saving oil and gasoline.

Jesus said, “those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31 RSV)

Jesus used this saying in a symbolic sense, to justify his associations with sinners. In other words, people who needed him most were those who were spiritually sick, not the righteous. However, his words reveal a a literal truth about medicine in the past and certainly in the contemporary Western world: doctors are for the sick. As I listened to this verse in the Gospel readings at mass recently, it got me thinking: why aren’t doctors trained in a way to advise the healthy in staying that way? I think this illustrates what is wrong with our entire healthcare system. We have elaborate structures and policies designed to treat diseases, but preventing illness is a lonely endeavor with little or no structure or support. My insurance program has all sorts of rules and programs to treat illnesses, but very little to promote actual wellness. I have a great doctor who is open to wellness, but I know of people whose doctors have literally walked out of the room when they mentioned alternative treatments that were actually working! It seems to me that as long as doctors, insurance companies, and most health institutions ignore wellness, our healthcare system will continue to spiral out of control.