This post may seem to be a complete departure from my previous posts, but to me, all of my posts are connected by some thread. The current hot topic is COVID of course, but my intent for this blog is to blow up conventional narratives that don’t jive with reality. I write about topics in which I have an interest and feel I can offer a different perspective, as well as, information that is not freely shared by many of the “mainstream” channels. I typically focus on health and individual freedom, but I will write posts that seem to come out of left-field with no apparent connection to either. This particular post is essentially Part 1 to my basics for establishing a healthy lifestyle. I’m setting the table, so to speak. Welcome to the inner workings of my mind!
“There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.”
- Thomas Sowell
Imagine if you had knowledge beforehand that a particular situation or condition had a 100% chance of your death, but that situation also had the potential to offer the most amazing, fulfilling experience that would forever alter your existence and the way you see the world. Add to that the timing of your demise is also unknown, and could happen within a matter of mere seconds or decades upon entering said situation. Given a choice to participate or not in such a scenario, what would you choose?
Every day we make decisions that impact our chance of survival and quality of life whether or not we consciously consider the risks or benefits related to those decisions. If we do happen to take a moment to assess the potential consequences of our choices, it’s highly likely that our estimate will be way off the mark.
You might estimate that a hike in the wilderness with bears and mountain lions in the area is infinitely more dangerous than driving to your local grocery store, but you would be wrong much as many people are wrong about the assumed safety of a common product like Tylenol or the risks of developing severe COVID. For those who want to understand our poor estimating capabilities better check out Daniel Kahneman’s, “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”
I recently went to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to do some late season hiking with a friend. I’ve done a little hiking in the mountains before, but have never done a hike this late in the year with the potential weather conditions we were to face.
Colder temps, high winds, icy/snowy conditions, and shorter days increase the risk of a negative outcome vs a hike in mid-summer. So, we did a fair amount of planning and preparing to make sure we could mitigate these risks as much as possible understanding that we could never eliminate all of the risk either known or unknown.
We decided against a back country, overnight hike, but we still needed to be prepared physically and mentally, and made sure we had enough of the right clothing and equipment to cover possible scenarios on the trails. The area we hiked in had received a decent amount of snow prior to our arrival, resulting in icy conditions hidden by several inches and up to a few of feet of snow in some places. The temperatures were in the upper 20s/lower 30s, and the wind was howling anywhere from 30 to almost 70 miles an hour in some places on the trails dropping wind chills into the single digits.
While I probably could have ditched the sleeping bag, sleeping pad, 5 types of fire starters, water purifier, and extra clothes and been okay, I know we would have been better able to manage had something gone wrong. It also helped us understand how we would perform on future hikes under similar loads, and gave us a greater sense of accomplishment.
Contrast that with the people we passed on the trail who didn’t look like they hiked up the sidewalk much less a mountain wearing tennis shoes, jeans, cotton sweat pants, hoodies, and in one case, shorts, carrying little more than a water bottle. Most of these people turned around before they went far enough to get into trouble.
Even though any person on that trail could have experienced injury or death, those of us who were more prepared for the conditions increased our odds of having a better outcome than the people who obviously decided at the last minute to take a fun nature hike in less than ideal conditions. As far as I know, there were no casualties the weekend we were in RMNP.
There are probably many people who regard our choice to hike in the mountains in any weather conditions as taking significant and unnecessary risk especially when compared to sitting in the comfort and safety of our homes watching someone tackle the mountains on a Netflix documentary. In their minds, this is 2021 and there is no good reason for stomping around in the woods at any age much less ours. Plus, we were an easy meal for the bears hiding behind every tree.
Consider the fact though that the risk of dying in a house fire in the U.S. is 10.7 per million people annually compared to a total of 23 fatalities from black bear attacks between 2000-2016. While there was certainly a risk of us getting hurt or dying on our hike from any number of causes, there is just as much of a risk if not greater in the “safety” of our homes.
I’m not saying that everyone needs to go hiking in the mountains in the winter to be safe, and there are certainly some risks that I am unwilling to take. But what I am trying to get across is that risk is always present regardless of your choices, and is often greater where we perceive the least threat.
This takes us back to the question that I posed at the beginning of this article. What would you choose if you knew a situation would absolutely lead to your death at some undetermined time, but had the potential to offer you the greatest and most fulfilling experiences? Would you go for it, or would you play it “safe”?
I’m asking a question of the rhetorical sort dear reader because you are already in such a situation, but in this case, you didn’t have a choice in the matter. As soon as your father’s sperm touched your mother’s egg, your future date with the grim reaper was set, and nothing you do will alter that inevitability.
But if you could go back to pre-conception and choose in this case, would you pass on the opportunity to live if you knew without doubt that it would only result in your death?
Contrary to what the media and medical experts have tried to get us to believe in the past two years, every person who has ever been born has died, or will die, from any one of an infinite number of possible causes, including COVID, even though the risks are not always what they seem. While death is the one guarantee in life, the timing and method are not.
Now that you realize you are taking the ultimate risk just by being alive, the bigger question is what do you choose to do with the time you have left? Do you hide in your home pretending life will go on forever if you don’t do anything “risky”, and go about doing the same old thing day in and day out because it’s comfortable and “safe” and you think you know what to expect?
Do you take the fatalistic approach and say, “Fuck it. I’m going to die anyway so I may as well party my ass off, or eat a bunch of garbage that makes me feel good for a few minutes before the guilt and indigestion set in. To hell with the consequences. I’m going out like a shooting star!”?
Remember, there are no solutions - there are only tradeoffs. What happens if you take the fatalistic approach, but instead of going out in that blaze of glory, you have a long, slow, painful decline that not only affects you but the ones around you?
Many people choose to ignore or grossly underestimate the obvious risks of drinking too much alcohol, eating the wrong foods, lack of physical activity, etc. As a consequence, they end up feeling like shit for a long time blaming age, genetics, bad luck, or other people while taking medications that can carry their own significant risks to “manage” the conditions created by their choices. In fact, they no longer remember what it’s like to truly feel good so expectations become quite low.
What happens if you take the perceived risk-less and comfortable life with no challenges? Many of our comforts and conveniences are the very things contributing to our poor physical and mental health too. And what happens when the world suddenly goes through an upheaval such as a real pandemic, or food and energy shortages?
Challenging experiences that were once common not even 100 years ago made people hard and capable of surviving those incredibly difficult conditions, but would decimate this country in short order today. Hopefully something catastrophic never happens, but the risk is far greater than zero and a great many people are susceptible because of the risky decision to be comfortable and rely heavily on others to provide. Are you the low hanging fruit and would you even know if you were?
Each person has to live their lives as they see fit, and we should never pass judgment on another’s choices. However, while we can’t choose what happens in the world around us, our individual choices about how we decide to live and how we respond to what the world throws at us create our current situations. It’s easy to accept responsibility when things are good, but not so much during the tough times.
If we acknowledge and understand the real risks and consequences to every choice we make and the actions we take (or don’t take), will we decide to make different choices leading to potentially better outcomes?
Every time I decide to workout I acknowledge that I’m taking a risk that I may get injured, or could possibly have a heart attack or stroke (however remote) as a result of the physical stress. But choosing not to push myself physically greatly increases my risk of developing a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, or cancer which happen to be some of the leading killers in this country.
Physical exertion combined with eating foods that contain actual nutrients also strengthen my immune system protecting me from pathogens such as SARS CoV-2. I know that the risks of these choices are far less than the risks hiding in my home, sitting on my couch indulging all of the comforts and conveniences of modern life.
Every time I take on something new to challenge my body and/or mind I’m developing more and better neural pathways that help me take on the unexpected surprises life throws at me. Being alive is an experiment and the world is the laboratory. For those who think it’s too late to start making different choices that will have meaningful impacts, I urge you to think again.
We are constantly making choices that either advance or hinder the pursuit of the best version of our selves. I know I am going to die at some point, and I embrace that certainty. I also know that I am far from perfect and have made plenty of decisions in the past leading to bad outcomes, but I alone am accountable for all of my choices, actions, and the resulting consequences.
For better or worse, I am where I am today in every aspect of life because of the choices I’ve made. While I don’t cut myself any slack, I don’t beat myself up when I make a mistake or come up short of expectations. I did plenty of that in the past, and it only prevents you from learning from your mistakes and getting back on track.
As William Wallace says in the movie Braveheart, “Every man dies, but not every man really lives.” I don’t know my expiration date and I don’t know for sure what the outcomes of my choices will be, but I consciously choose to take control of my life and pursue the best version of myself accepting the risks and benefits that come with that pursuit. For me, it’s just a better way to live.