There was a period in my late 30s and early 40s where all I wanted to do was get stoned and listen to Loreena McKennitt, Blackmore’s Night, and Enya.
Yeah, I was a good father and good husband. Yes, I had a good corporate job and behaved in a good, corporate world.
I made plenty of money and did everything right.
But, my life was meaningless, other than being a good husband, a good father, and a good citizen. I voted. I wrote some music. I played a lot of videogames and eventually started getting fat.
It happened all at once. I took a lot at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I was drinking too much and getting very little done.
So that all changed when I started getting more heavily into self-improvement.
Drugs are great. They numb the pain of life. But then, why? Why do you need to numb the pain? Wouldn’t it make more sense to find the root of the pain and eliminate it? Then, give life some fucking meaning?
So that’s exactly what I did.
I dropped the vegetarian twice a week bullshit. I quit doing illegal drugs completely. I cut my drinking down from too much to a moderate amount.
I cut out seed oils completely. Canola oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, and all that other bullshit? Straight into the garbage.
Switched over to butter and olive oil.
“But what about frying foods?”
Why fry in the first place? Seriously. Learn to cook other ways.
Also, cut out processed foods completely. Cut my diet down to meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, white rice, pasta, onions, cheese, milk, garlic, ginger, and spices.
For drinks, no more beer. I just drink liquor now and occasionally red wine.
I’ll enjoy coconut water when doing a sweaty workout too. Love that stuff!
I drink copious amounts of water. If your pee is gross (all pee is gross but I mean really gross), you’re not drinking enough water. I also drink 6-7 cups of black coffee a day. The good stuff.
A sedentary lifestyle will also put you in lots of pain. You have to get up constantly.
Take stretching seriously. Pick a routine you enjoy and do it daily. The older you get, the more you should stretch.
Also, toughen up your joints and ligaments. We consume at least 3000 mg of fish oil a day. The liquid stuff. It’s expensive but well worth it.
We lift weights. That’s one of the, if not the absolute best, ways to toughen up your joints and ligaments. It also toughens up your bones so you’re way less likely to develop osteoporosis.
Then, find some meaning. Getting stoned and playing videogames isn’t meaning. It seemed like a great way to spend weekends at the time but looking back, what a waste!
I also thought I was composing good music back then. I got very little to show for it. I did write the lyrics and melody to My Last Serenade stoned. But I added the mid-section (including the guitar solo), the piano intro, and the string quartet sober. The rest of the EP I wrote entirely sober. Well, parts while drinking but not on drugs.
And if you’re wondering what drugs – mostly marijuana (including edibles) but also hash and a few times I dabbled with PCP. Yeah, not one of my smarter moves. Surprisingly, I’ve neither done mushrooms nor LSD.
No desire to do that shit now. My life has plenty of meaning without it.
So in summary – change your diet. Change your lifestyle. And add some meaning to your life. Bad diet, bad lifestyle, and no meaning will literally put your body in a state of chronic pain.
Disclaimer – I’m not a doctor. But to be honest, I don’t trust the medical profession. You’ll encounter some excellent doctors and nurses. But half of them are drug pushers. Rather than teaching you how to improve your diet, lifestyle, and adding meaning to your life, you’ll get hooked on whatever drugs they’re getting a kickback from.
Yes, I’m quite serious. Half the medical profession sold out to the pharmaceutical companies.
