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The other day I was thinking what would I want to have that my grandchildren read about me.

Would it be like this

Rob worked 60 hours a week, mowed his lawn every weekend and watched a couple hours of TV every night and played mindless online games most of the night

or would it be better if it said something like this

Rob was very conscious of the choices he made and focused on the things that made him happy, which helped him make the people around him happy.

Just before I wrote this post I removed my Cable TV box and have decided that I am only going to watch TV programs that I truly enjoy; which is about 2 hours per week this TV season. When I reflect on the amount of  lost time I have invested into various TV programs over the years.  Only to see them canceled and the story left dangling like a loose thread in my mind.   If all goes as planned the TV executives should have me down to 0 hours in a year or two.

I have recently started listening to Pandora in the evenings.  Pandora gives you ability to create your own channel and listen to the music you want.   I have 4 primary channels that I listen to (Hard Rock, Spa Channel, Jazz, Nature Sounds). I have been writing in a journal almost every evening with music playing rather than the TV.  I find the music is less distracting and much more enjoyable.  I have been journaling for a about 6 months consistently which I think it has made me more reflective.

One thing I reflected on the other day was I don’t place a lot of value on stuff compared to the value that I place on learning and experiences.   I was trying to think of where some of the toys from my childhood could be; they are all long gone. The experiences of my childhood remain with me.

When I was growing up, my family was very self-reliant. We raised our own vegetables, chickens, and pigs.   We made maple syrup one year with 6-8 maples on the property. We heated our house with wood and coal when oil was too expensive.   My children today are missing the experience of being self reliant.    They have come to view food as what the food industrial complex says food is. My wife and kids look at the vegetables I grow and they are not sure what do to with them!  This is because I’ve been growing desert adapted and heirloom varieties of vegetables. They don’t look as pretty as the ones in the store. What is wrong with an orange tomato? Especially if it tastes excellent. How about purple beans they sure tasted good but they were not a hit with the family.

In conclusion, I really don’t want to be the middle aged guy who comes home from work with most of my life force drained. After getting the kids to bed, sit in the glow of the TV and just barely absorb what little it has to offer. I want to get out and experience new things.   Try a new bottle of wine, try new food, hike a new trail, travel somewhere new and spend a week.   I want to connect with my roots, and grow at least some of my food and share that experience with my children. It is a great learning opportunity for the entire family and a step back to self-reliance.

 

I recently read a book called The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D.  I have always known I was an introvert, but I was never sure it was a good thing.  The book has helped me to see that there are some good things about being an introvert. At times this books almost sounds like was written about me.

There are seven major traits of an introvert that I could really identify with:

• I often find myself in meetings were I freeze up when put on the spot during meeting where I may be a subject matter expert, but for some reason cannot think fast on my feet.
• I often feel like a tortoise sounded by much faster and quicker people. My communications are often slow and deliberate.
• I am generally really annoyed with interruptions and constant shifts in our plans. I don’t like to interrupt others, I figure because I hate interruptions others probably do too.
• If I get over stimulated I often want to “Zone” out watching TV or surfing the web mindlessly.
• Last year after my wife read my performance review, she summed it up “sounds like you are an Introverted Genius”.  I thought the same thing could be said of the Unabomber.
• I suspect some people have a perception of me as being aloof and disconnected but with an incredible amount of knowledge.
• I absolutely hate the phone. When I was growing up my parents ran a business out of our house using our home phone. You just never knew who was going to call. I still have this loathing towards the phone.
• I often feel drained after social events and big crowds.  They do not energize me they leave me drained.  Most of the time I enjoyed these events but just felt drained afterward.

There were other traits that I do identify with but the eight of them above have been the ones that bother me the most.

In the past I have taken Myers-Briggs temperament tests before and always came up as an Introvert.  So I it is no surprise that that I recent took the test and got an ISJT as a result.

From the book here a few summarized points about the introvert’s brain:

• Introverts tend to use the parasympathetic nervous system.
  • Sometimes it requires more effort to get motivated or moving
  • Sometimes react very slow when under stress
  • Enjoys more breaks and relaxation time to refresh
  • Generally have a calm or reserved manner and never panics
• Introverts have great memories but
  • Sometimes it takes longer to retrieve information
  • Often feels it is better to sleep on an idea
  • Often forgets things that they know well when put on the spot
• Introverts tend to
  • Shy away from too much attention
  • Zone out when over stimulated
  • Surprise others with a wealth of information that is stored in their brains

I have also noticed that my children seem to be introverted too. Sometimes they display some of the behaviors from the list above.  I suspect that they too may feel that being an introvert is difficult but I hope that see that is not a bad thing, it is just different from a lot of the population.

I look forward to exploring my introverted personality more and seeing how I can play with it as strength rather than as a weakness.

If you are an introvert, can you relate to any of the points above?

 

This week marks one year of leaky gut therapy.  Here is my story:  In March 2009 I felt like everything I ate was making me sick!   I woke up most mornings feeling like my stomach wrestled with an alligator every night.  I visited my regular doctor’s office many times.

My symptoms were:

• Gas, Bloating when I woke up every morning
• Fatigue every day
• Heart burn
• Pretty much collapsing into bed every night exhausted
• Difficulty getting started in the morning
• Difficulty focusing on tasks and easily distracted

I already had determined that I have gluten sensitivity but have not been tested for Celiac Disease.   I have been gluten free for 10 years now. Gluten is a sticky protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats.   (Oats may actually be gluten free but most people with Celiac will avoid them because Oats are in the same plant family as the other three grains)  Celiac is a condition in which the lining of the intestines get irritated because of the immune systems response to Gluten.    What happens is the body sees gluten as a dangerous invader, it then sends in the white blood cells that attack the gluten protein.   The actual damage comes from the immune system attacking the gluten, the damage to the intestines is like collateral damage.    The body’s immune system does not necessarily attack the small intestine but does release a lot of chemicals that signal the cells in the intestines to inflame themselves.   The villi become flattened and impaired. The villi are like little hairs in the intestines that help move food particles through the intestines and helps absorb food.  The flattened villi cannot absorb nutrients efficiently.   People with full blown Celiac disease are often suffering from malnutrition.

My Regular doctor had put my on maximum strength Zantac to treat Gastro Esophagus Reflux Disease (GERD).   I had tried to cut back a little because I knew from reading that GERD is not caused excessive acid but is caused by the valve at the top of the stomach leaking acid into the esophagus (the tube that leads from your mouth to the stomach).  It didn’t take me long to realize that you just cannot stop taking these medications.  Zantac and Pepcid are Histamine-2 blockers which reduce the amount of stomach acid.  The body has a huge rebound effect when this type of medication is stopped.  This seems to be in direct contradiction to what I need since I need to absorb my food better but my intestines are already impaired and now we are reducing the acid in my stomach.  This just didn’t seem right, since the stomach needs a fairly strong amount of acid to break down proteins.   (By the way if you look on the package of Zantac or Pepcid it is only recommended that you take it for two weeks at maximum)

I started looking for some new answers.  Fortunately my company sponsors a health coaching program every year.  I got the name of a local naturopathic doctor from my health coach.  So I made an appointment and got in for an office visit about one week later.

We started discussing my symptoms and she immediately recommended the following:

• 8 – 12 Grams of  L-Glutamine per day
• A super good multivitamin (6 capsule per day)
• Some herbs to support the Adrenal System
• Some Digestive enzymes to help my system process my food
• Stop eating all dairy products immediately

On this protocol I started to get a little more energy that I have been missing for quite some time.    After doing this for about 1 month I still was not where I wanted to be but I was on the correct track to getting where I wanted to go.