Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking Because The End Is Always Near

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It is always good to keep danger in the back of your mind as you climb. Alpinists face it all the time and to a much greater degree. However, weekend hikers can do face plants as I have done, break bones, like I have done or run into some wildlife. However, there is less chance of catching the new Coronavirus from China when you are out in nature away from people.

“Danger, Danger, Will Robinson”

Some of you don’t remember that quote and some do. It was a computer of sorts talking, but when you hike you do not have any warning for what might happen.

So don’t have an earpiece, listening to music as you climb. Use your ears to hear something before it sees you. It might even be a tree falling toward you in the wind. Save the podcast listening for the treadmill at the gym. Besides, you will miss the singing of the birds.

Snow

If you hike in the snow, be sure to stay away from avalanche areas. Don’t even trust the reports. Just don’t climb there. Too many people have died because of ignorance or testosterone poisoning.

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but if you go in the snow take your Microspikes or at least Yaktracks. They will save you from injury. Sure, I know you young folks have better balance than me, but why take chances?

High Winds

You need to listen so you can hear a tree coming down, but the best way to avoid being crushed is to stay home when there are gale force winds in the mountains. Why push it? Remember, Risk = Danger Times Exposure. You might get away with it once, but be exposed long enough and you might not.

A little wind is good. It blows the stink off of you ad keeps you awake. The sound of it is soothing as well.

The main thing to keep in mind, of course, is that “The End Is Always Near.”

Bookish Weapon Number Thirty

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Dan Carlin has the best podcast on history in the history of the world! Now he has a book. The title of the book is, “The End Is Always Near.” It is not the most uplifting subject you might be able to imagine, but it does hold your attention and is certainly timely with the new Coronavirus from China making the news. Is it a bookish weapon. Sure! It prepares you.

Anything Carlin would write of course would be about history and his point, I believe is that over the course of time the “end” has come again and again to civilizations. Hence it is always near. However, if you think his title is too morbid, he says he had an alternative title which was, “And They All Lived Happily Ever After.”

Scary Chapters

If all I did here was to list the titles of Carlin’s chapters it would be enough to get you to crawl back under the covers. So let’s do that!

Chapter 1 – Do Tough Times Make for Tougher People? (not scary, maybe positive-sounding)
Chapter 2 – Suffer The Children – (we are warming up here)
Chapter 3 – The End Of The World As They Knew It (now we are talking)
Chapter 4 – Judgement at Nineveh (this is not the biblical Jona story)
Chapter 5 – The Barbarian Life Style (interesting – certainly not scary)
Chapter 6 – A Pandemic Prologue (Very timely. I am going back to bed)
Chapter 7 – The Quick And The Dead (crawling back under the covers)
Chapter 8 – The Road To Hell (Can’t get any scarier than this)

Just by scanning the table of contents you get the idea. Pretty thought-provoking material.

Tough Times

Carlin discusses the great depression, the Second World War (which came right after the depression), the Blitz in London where the Germans dropped bombs for eighteen months. Then he talks about nuclear weapons. He speculates if people from the “Greatest Generation” were by percentage tougher than those of today. My guess is that it would be a higher percentage than what Carlin says.

“Perhaps we’re living in a time when toughness in the old sense doesn’t matter as much as it used to. If that is the case, then what advantages might a “softer” society have over a tougher one?” asks Carlin. I don’t think there are any advantages and I doubt Carlin does either.

He discusses how the Spartans, who were known for their toughness became “luxury-loving and corruptible.” If it can happen to the Spartans it can happen to any society.

The Children

It was really tough for children in the past. Even for those of the Great Generation who grew up thinking corporal punishment was ok. Take a look at some of the ways their parents punished them: “whips of all kinds, cat-0-nine-tails, shovels, canes, and Iron and wooden rods.” I knew a girl who’s father would beat her with a horsewhip and a boy who’s father beat him with a razor strap (he was a barber). Of course, my Junior High School Principal had one of those paddles with holes in it that would raise blisters and I had a math teacher that threw me up against the wall. My parents did call the school about that, but only because he tore my shirt.

In prior generations, children were sold, says Carlin. They witnessed torture and violence of all kinds. Mothers didn’t nurse their kids. They had wet nurses do it.

The Ending of Civilizations

The Bronze Age ended quickly and Carlin says historians argue about what happened and how it happened. It could have been a number of things or one thing. Read the book

Nineveh was an ancient city mentioned in the Bible. It was destroyed in spectacular fashion all at once. Carlin says the locals living in the area didn’t even know how it happened.

Carlin discusses the Roman Empire and what happened to them. It was interesting how the Roman legions became more and more germanic.

Plagues

Carlin speculates about how the reformation of the Catholic Church may have been at least partially due to plague deaths, because the plague killed most of the officials in the church so they had to replace them with very young inexperienced men who had no one left to teach them. This then led to all sorts of nastiness.

Carlin says, “We can’t know how many in all died. While estimates put the figure at 75 million, countless out-of-the-way farms and towns and even cities may not have been included in the final toll.”

Atomic Bomb

Then Carlin begins to discuss the bomb. I was born six days after the very first atomic bomb was detonated and one month after I was born the United States dropped one on Japan. It has only been 74 years since then and that is not very long if you consider the scope of history. Carlin wonders how long we can keep a nuclear war from happening.

He recounts the Cuban Missile Crisis and discusses what was said in meetings with Kennedy and his staff. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I recall riding home on the school bus wondering if we were all going to get nuked.

As usual Carlin makes history more interesting by considering the human side of it. Get this book and read it. Then you won’t be so surprised at what might be coming just around the bend.

Bookish Weapon Number Twenty-Nine

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This book entitled “Monastic Wisdom” was written in 1999 by Hugh Feiss, a Benedictine Monk. If you find God and all things spiritual appalling you might want to skip this. However, thinking about and applying this wisdom in your life gives you a powerful weapon for dealing with suffering and malevolence.

As I write this it is Christmas Day 2019. It seemed an appropriate book to discuss on this Christian holy day. As Hugh says in the introduction, the Benedictine tradition “…has something to teach men and women of all walks of life about how to live wisely and joyfully, how to budget time, how to get along together, how to walk gently on the earth.” I would add or hike.

Time

Benedict separates the day into three activities. These are work, prayer, and reading. Well, I have two out of three down. Hugh says the “Rule of Benedict conveys a sense of urgency: one must hasten and run toward the goal of everlasting life. The goal is precious; there is no time to waste getting there.” I sure don’t want to rush things when it comes to death, but maybe he is saying something different.

Laced in and between those primary activities it is important to make time for mutual support and help. We all can take a lesson from that and make time to support one another. Hugh says,” …after God, other persons are the most important realities in our lives. If we are too busy to make time for people who need us, whether they are strangers or neighbors, there is something wrong with our priorities.”

Prayer

If you don’t pray you can skip this, but if you pray even once in a while this is a section of the book worth reading. The first thing that jumped out at me was the statement that “…lack of concentration at prayer is a sign that our minds are too cluttered.” I really need some work in this area.

Then he quotes Monks from the past about prayer. They are lengthy and I suggest that you read the book if interested. Hugh suggests that there are three important things to remember about prayer: that it is a means of “self-offering,” and that it is a part of life. He says, “One brings one’s activities and concerns to times of prayer; one slips short prayers into the intervals that occur in working and walking and weeding. In the end, prayer is about awareness of the divine presence, and that presence is everywhere.”

Reading

He says the first thing to decide is whether you will devote yourself to reading and the second is what to read. As a Benedictine, he suggests the Bible and early church writers. Of course, I would add for regular folks that they should read from all disciplines so that their “map of the world” is closer to the actual territory.

Just to give you an idea from the Rule of Benedict regarding the importance of reading, here is a snippet: “ During Lent, they should each receive a book from the library that they are to read straight through to the end.” And from the Life of Wulfstan, “At Wulfstan’s table, edifying books were read. Silence was rigorously kept so that all might listen attentively. When the meal was over and the eating place quiet, he would explain what had been read in their native tongue, so that he could provide heavenly alms for those to whom he had already served bodily sustenance.”

And here is an admonition to me. It was like it was written just for me. It is from “Mirror For Monks,” by Louis De Blois. “Do not imitate those who follow no order in their reading but are content to read whatever reading chances to come their way. They are interested in nothing except what is new and unheard of. Whatever is familiar and everything old, however useful, bores them. Avoid such instability, for it does not build the spirit but scatters it.” He is describing me to a tee! My only defense is that it is better I read than not read and I know many who do not. Yes, a flimsy excuse.

Silence

There are so many wonderful sections on this subject. Silence was important in Monastic tradition. Hugh says, “The principal enemy of interior and exterior silence for most of us is our tongue.”

There is one quote that stood out for me. It is from Esther De Waal’s “A Life-Giving Way.” She says, “ …When God’s voice is drowned out by incessant clamor, whether inner or outer, in whatever shape or form, then continuous dialogue with God becomes impossible. An inner monologue with myself, constant chatter with others, the invasion of the spoken word through the press or television are all the ever-present realities in my daily life over which I need to exercise some sort of discipline if I am to keep any quiet inner space in which to listen to the Word.”

There is so much more in the book on peace, patience, stability, obedience, authority, longing and love. It is a great resource for wisdom in all these areas.

Go Hiking Even If You Have Osetoporosis

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One day at the gym in 2008 I slammed my little toe into a metal bench anchor and it broke. My doctor thought that was unusual so decided to give me a bone scan. The scan showed that I had Osteopenia. My levels of Vitamin D were in the toilet and that is the most likely reason for this diagnosis. I never supplemented and was a vegetarian for many years.

The doctor told me that because I was male and the scale they used was designed for females that the reality was that I had Osteoporosis. Osteopenia is just the precursor to it. My bone scan was 1.5.

He also said I needed to get on Fosamax right away, but I did some research and found that the side effects were horrendous. So I told the doctor no thanks. He was very angry and I am sure he thought his recommendation was the best thing for me. In fact, he tried to dissuade me by telling me how horrible death by a hundred fractures can be.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

I figured there must be a better way and thought that boosting my testosterone and Human Growth Hormone might help. So I went to a clinic specializing in Longevity medicine and for about a year and a half I was “treated.” However, these clinics are very expensive and insurance does not cover it so I eventually ran out of money.

One of the benefits, however, was that I lost fat and gained muscle. I loved that but had no idea if it helped with the bone loss.

Hiking

During the whole time I hiked and of course, still hike. It was not until fairly recently that I discovered that running with weight on your back helped to strengthen bones. It takes 1.4 times your body weight to trigger bone growth. However, pounding down a mountain is also rough on your joints.

Still every week I climb a mountain and I think it has helped, but I won’t know until I get another scan.

Osteostrong

Then about a year and a half ago, I found out about Osteostrong. The mother of the person that developed it had Osteoporosis and she was lucky enough to have a genius son. He designed four machines (two for the upper body and two for the lower body) that enable you to put 1.4 times your body weight on your bones without damaging the joints. You do one rep. You push as hard as you can until you can’t anymore (about 5 seconds).

This system has shown to increase bone density by 16% after only a year and a half. So no nasty medications that make your jaw fall off. I think it has probably lengthened my life span considerably. Stay tuned for the bone scan results.

Diet

It has only been very recently since I discovered a diet plan that contributes to bone growth. It was designed by a woman that was diagnosed with Osteoporosis in her 30s. She has completely reversed it. Her husband worked alone with her. Their names are Mira and Jason Calton.

If you or someone you know has either Osteopenia or Osteoporosis please tell them about these two protocols. Weight-bearing exercise and a special diet. Then tell them to go hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number Twenty-Two

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William Irvine’s book, “The Stoic Challenge,” is a little different than some of the other popular books about this philosophy. It is, indeed, a challenge!

His book begins with what to most of us, would be a frustrating time at the airport. One delay after another when we need to catch a flight and we start to steam inside. Not Bill Irvine. He accepts it as a challenge to his ability to use his philosophy, stay engaged and improve his resilience.

Setbacks

I don’t think I have read any other book that uses the word “setback” more often. There is a chapter devoted to it. Actually more than one. He describes all the different ways we can experience a setback, the psychology of setbacks and how to use Stoic philosophy to confront them. The Stoics’ goal says Irvine, “was not to remain calm while suffering a setback but rather to experience a setback without thereby suffering.”

In his chapter on the psychology of setbacks, Irvine gets busy discussing anchoring and framing as they relate to Stoic philosophy.

Anchoring

This kind of anchoring is not like what you experience in Neuro-linguistic Programing, where you heighten the subject’s emotion and attach an “anchor.” Irvine explains it as a retailer selling shirts for $50 but then having sales of 20% off. This anchors the “regular price” at $50 in the shopper’s mind.

When it comes to the Stoics, “they would periodically make a point of imagining ways their lives could be worse…By thinking about how things could be worse, they effectively sank an anchor into their subconscious minds. The presence of the anchor affected how they subsequently felt about their current situation.”

Framing

Epictetus said, “what upsets people is not things themselves but their judgment about the things.” So there are six frames that Irvine outlines for us and that we can use daily.

First, there is the “Competing Obligation Frame.” You think someone didn’t give you something you thought you should get because they are nasty, but with this frame, you can step back and say to yourself that they may have had a competing obligation which prevented them from giving you what you wanted.

Second, the “Incompetence Frame,” Someone does something and you at first think it is out of malice, but with this frame, you realize they are just incompetent.

Third, the Storytelling Frame,” allows you to “write your behavior” by focusing on how the setback could turn out well in the long run.

Fourth, the Comedic Frame, is when you use humor to offset the setback. Simple and it works.

Fifth, the Game Frame, is where you think about your setback as just a part of a game. Sometimes an elaborate game I suppose.

Sixth, the Stoic Test Frame, is seeing every setback as a test by the Stoic “Gods” of your ability to stay calm and find a workaround.

Toughness Training

This is when we go out of our way to make our circumstances take a turn for the worst so we can expand our comfort zone.

This subject is one I found particularly interesting since in a minor way climbing a mountain I have not climbed before or even one I have during difficult situations is a form of toughness training. However, the author uses climbing Everest as an example which is way out of my comfort zone.

He says your comfort zone has two dimensions. One is physical and the other emotional. You work on the emotional by facing your fears. Then in the physical dimension you face physical discomfort. Is he talking about cold showers? Maybe. He talks about how he forces himself to go out in cold weather with no coat. I think cold showers are worse or rather best. Take that cold shower every day!

The whole idea is to “expand your comfort zone so you will feel comfortable in a wider range of circumstances.”

Death

My favorite subject! Maybe it is because of my age. I think death and I are becoming friends or at least death is a casual acquaintance these days. The Stoics say you should contemplate your death. Irvine says, “…pause in your daily routine to reflect that no matter what you are doing, there is a chance that the is the last time you will ever do it.”

One visualization I liked was what he calls, “prospective retrospection.” This is when you reflect on the fact that at some point in the future you will look back at this very moment and wish you were there. Think about it. You have lived a long time and now you can’t drive, hike, or maybe even walk very well. You will look back and wish for the past. So do it now so you appreciate the present more.

Bookish Weapon Number Eighteen

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We are all going to die or as John Ortberg puts it, “Old Man Wrinkle is coming for everybody.” Ortberg has a unique way of reminding us of that fact and adding a twist or two in his book, “When The Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box.” That is one of the best titles for a book I have seen and contains a bookish weapon we can all use daily.

The title is a reminder that while we play this game, winning and losing at times, when it is all over all the pieces and the board go back in the box. It could be that the “box” is a coffin.”

Reality

“The reality of this world is that I was born into Someone Else’s kingdom. My life came to me as a gift I did not choose; it is suspended from a slender thread that I did not weave and cannot on my own sustain.”

Here is a meditation Ortberg quotes:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Then he says Jesus added one more to this: “I am a ceaseless being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.”

He also adds this much needed quote from Bernie Siegle:

“I’ve done the research and I hate to tell you, but everybody dies – lovers, joggers, vegetarians and non-smokers. I’m telling you this so that some of you who jog at 5:00 AM and eat vegetables will occasionally sleep late and have an ice cream cone.”

Meaning

A vacuum cleaner is built to clean. A knife to cut. Ortberg says, “We are built for meaning the way Porsches are built for speed.” He goes on to discuss how all of us have what Martin Seligman calls “signature strengths.” And of course goes on to encourage us to use our signature strengths in the service of something larger than ourselves.

You are most likely familiar with the book “Mans Search for Meaning” where Victor Frankl points out that we can put up with anything if we have a big enough why. We can find meaning in even the worst circumstances.