Strange Times, Mental Challenges, and Staying Fit

 Another uncharacteristic philosophical post...

I don't really know how to go about writing this.  It's a little awkward blogging about current events and my own feelings about them, but here goes anyway.  

We are living through some strange and discomforting times - certainly like nothing I've ever experienced.  A new virus that apparently escaped from a laboratory is stalking and killing the elderly and immune-compromised, and randomly killing even healthy people.  Other people have decided that somehow it's now OK to throw Molotov cocktails at police.  An acrimonious presidential election is about to take place, with no way to ensure that ballots are honestly counted.  Whomever is declared the winner, the outcome will no doubt be bitterly contested - legally and in the streets.  It's entirely possible that armed skirmishes will take place either before or following the election. 

It's a difficult time to keep a sense of perspective, especially when so many other people seem to have gone crazier than a shithouse rat.  Part of my own issue is exhaustion.  If you pay attention to these things - and you should, because they can easily affect you if they spiral out of control - it makes you weary.  And yes, I'm tired.  I'm tired of working long hours, tired of shift work, tired of Covid-19 and the news of it.  Tired of the media trying to politicize a health problem after first downplaying it.  It never stops, and it's demoralizing.  Perhaps that's the intent.

So yeah, I'm mentally exhausted and ground down.  However, I'm still the guy who is head of the household, and there are others who count on me.  Giving up, taking a break, having a meltdown, or other similar stunts are off the table - much as I'd enjoy a respite from the rest of the world.  It would be irresponsible to stop doing all the things that are necessary for the family to behave as normal as possible in these strange days - no matter how large a toll it takes.  

To be honest, it's taking a chunk of humility to admit not being 100% tough mentally.  But these are grim times, and so I'm OK trying to be honest about how the times are affecting me.  That's not to say there aren't light moments.  Those are there, too.  But the larger issues have a way of brushing those aside.

Difficult times are not easy for those around us either, and it's easy for people to have a short fuse and for them to take their anger and frustration out on you.  They might pick you out because you are an easy target, or because you have the self-control to not retaliate physically or verbally.   So add that to the platter of goodies I mentioned above.   All that mental baggage I just threw out there brings us once again to stoicism.  Stoicism is not about taking whatever damage the world dishes out without flinching.  It's much deeper than that.  It's about doing the right things, even when it's difficult or unpopular.

I'm a big believer in stoicism and realism.  I'm *not* a fan of optimism, because optimism didn't help anyone on the Titanic avoid drowning.  Realism probably helped a few survive, though.

Possibly the most stoic thing you've ever heard is the Serenity Prayer.  I'll quote one of the older versions here:  

"God give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things that should be changed,

and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

Another phrase that I have always been fond of is:

"Two things a man should never be angry at:  Those things he can change, and those he cannot".

These are both solid examples of how one should approach the world in a pragmatic way, but they don't help your spirit from being ground down by the madness around you.  And you cannot afford to ignore the threat of the madness around you.  So there is a bit of suffering in solitude, with no end in sight.  Who knew that trouble would go for so long and be so soul-crushing?  Sadly, I don't have an answer how to raise one's spirits in such a sick environment.  You can pray and pass your problems to God, but the problems and the stress don't necessarily go away.

A number of predictions that I made earlier have not come to pass.  The US and world did not fall into a greater depression.  While the stock market has been looking wobbly lately, it didn't fall into the abyss.  Homes and cars have not gone into foreclosure and caused massive loss in property values.  The fact that most of this bad stuff hasn't happened is due to massive intervention in the stock markets and the lending industry.  

The Federal Reserve injected a tremendous amount of liquidity (cash) into the banking system, and lenders have offered loan forebearance to borrowers.  How these emergency measures will play out over time as they wind down remains to be seen.  I'm very much in favor of these actions, just making note of why my predictions failed to arrive!

There is another aspect to being prepared for difficult times, and that is being/staying physically fit.  I first addressed this issue four years ago, in this blog post.  The reasoning at that time was to stay out of the clutches of the clutches of insurance, medical and pharma businesses.  That is still a legitimate  reason to stay fit.  In 2020 you can add another excellent reason:  The possibility that civil war may break out, and you might soon find it physically challenging to travel, or to obtain food and water. 

I've been trying to forego comfort food recently, with mixed success.  What has really worked well at this age to take off unwanted pounds is "Intermittent Fasting", combined with 20-25 minutes of high-intensity cardio workout.  

I've had several friends swear by intermittent fasting, but never tried it myself - I was always content to use the "ketogenic" or low-carb diet.  But this is the first time I've managed to keep weight off, so it seems to be working pretty well on this older, slower metabolism.  This seems to be working out - to the point where a couple of people I hadn't seen in a while asked if I was sick - as in cancer.  No, I'm on a diet.

In the event that the world doesn't go completely mad, I have a goal.  This coming summer, I intend to climb Scotchman peak and visit some mountain goats in the wild.  The trail gains 3900 ft over four miles, so it's a steep climb.  I don't plan on packing an extra 30 lbs of body fat along - that would be like carrying an orange Home Depot bucket full of water up the trail with me.  No need for that much extra effort. 

Something to look forward to after a long winter.