Christmas Holidays 2011

It’s true what they say: there’s no place like home—especially at Christmas time. Spending a White Christmas with family and friends has always felt like a privilege to me—as if I’ve stepped into a holiday movie. So this past Christmas of 2011 was a weird experience: my first brown Christmas. Brown Christmases are definitely a rarity in Saskatchewan. But since I’ve come to accept that very few things in life make complete sense, I accepted the plus temperatures and learned to live without the minus temperatures—the kind of prairie winter temperatures infamous for freezing exposed skin in minutes flat.

Traditions are such an important part of any culture. Whenever I think about family Christmases, tradition is always the first thing that comes to mind. What are traditions about really? I have witnessed plenty differences between various cultures, but I’ve also observed similarities that them all: traditions that bring people together to celebrate, feast, and sing. Most often these traditions also involve donning very eccentric garments that catch the eye and sometimes confuse the mind.

Christmas morning with my sisters Crombie, Tasha and brother Reid.

It’s mind-boggling to step back and observe the way Christmas drives some people crazy! So often stress levels are about to explode, especially when you are stuck in rush-hour traffic in an attempt to finish your shopping the night before Christmas. Thanks to my travels, I was lucky enough to avoid Christmas shopping at home in 2011. I definitely didn’t miss witnessing the stress and rage of frantic shoppers—not to mention being rudely cut off in parking lots or store lineups.

My Dad and our families best friends Tucker and Maggie! Tucker is a chocolate lab and Maggie is a Bouvier des Flandres (the black object in the bottom left corner)

The material focus of the holidays has really diminished the simple pleasure that Christmas is supposed to be about: spending time with loved ones. Time is your most valuable gift; the way you spend it truly determines the course of your life and the effect you’ll have on those around you. Reflecting on past Christmases, my most vivid memories are of the people I spent them with, not the gifts I received.

My Mom and Reid

On December 27th I headed off to Big White Mountain, which is just outside of Kelowna, with my girlfriend Dayna Kopp and a group of our friends. Before reaching our destination, our group made a pit stop at the Avicii concert in Calgary. This amazing venue featured some of the world’s most popular DJs. It’s awesome to be part of a crowd whose only care is to have fun and dance however they like. Really, it’s hard to dislike anything that inspires people to move without reserve. It would be hilarious to view the crowd on camera without the sound of music.

The drive to Big White from Calgary was sketchy at best, with the highway from Golden to Revelstoke shut down because of avalanches. It was a relief to arrive in Kelowna after driving through a snowstorm that at times resembled space travel.

On the top of Big White with Dayna enjoying a sunset run!

Big White Ski Resort in among the best in world. This winter wonderland offers a ski-in ski-out family friendly environment and a lively village that caters to everyone. The mountain runs offer everything from powder-covered trees to groomed runs extending the diagonal length of the hill. Some of these runs last longer than twenty minutes. The “snow ghosts” at the top create a stunning foreground for visitors admiring the view of the Okanogan Valley. These trees are truly inspiring; they thrive on the mountain tops, even with their roots embedded in solid rock and their trunks and tops buried under massive piles of snow.

The best view of the Okanagan Valley and the “Snow Ghosts”

The New Year’s celebration at Big White was epic; I had a great group of people to ring in 2012 with. We joined the group of people who turned the town square into a mini Times Square to witness the colorful explosion of the fireworks.

One of the many pyrotechnic shows occurring around the world momentarily holding peoples attention to the sky.

This time of year always brings out the same question: did you make any New Years resolutions? Often you hear people making plans to improve their lives by making healthy lifestyle changes: quitting smoking; losing weight; or improving their grades at school, just to name a few. I’ve often wondered why everyone waits until New Years to set goals for a better life. Why not ask yourself on a daily basis what you need to do to obtain a better life? Goal setting is a difficult task for everyone. If the goals are too big your quest will inevitably end in disappointment, setting you back further than when you started. To make effective changes and reach your goals, nothing is more effective than motivation and commitment. Then your real task will be assessing why you’re motivated for change, what your priorities are, and how you will accomplish them.

One common example that highlights how important these questions are is the goal to quit smoking. First off, it’s important to realize that you are not giving up anything beneficial; you are actually gaining health. You are abolishing an expensive, dirty habit that is socially unattractive. Two things incite smoking cigarettes: nicotine addiction and brain washing. The human brain loves nicotine. It’s one of the world’s most common drug addictions. Researchers have confirmed that this stimulant starts forming addictive pathways in the brain after just two cigarettes. Really! In other words, long before you can even consciously acknowledge that you are addicted, your subconscious is developing a love affair with the toxic substance. Why would anyone start smoking in an age when we all know how bad it is for our health?

Most individuals can trace the origin of this habit to peer pressure. You were at a party, likely drinking, and a few older peers were smoking and persuaded you to give it a shot. When the hot carcinogenic smoke hit the back of your throat, you probably coughed, preventing the smoke from even entering your virgin lungs. How could anyone get addicted to this? Likely a similar thought ran through your mind. But the next time you partied you tried it again and your gag reflex was slightly diminished. The social experience motivated you to try and disguise your discomfort so you could enjoy the habit shared by the people around you; somehow they made it look so attractive. Over the ensuing weeks and months the habit that started as a social behavior transformed into buying a pack each morning before school or work to alleviate your pervasive nicotine withdrawal.

New Years eve party at the Grizzly Lodge with Brett, Adam, David, Spenser, JD, Garret and Brandon

Now that you know your habit is killing you, making your teeth yellow, and prompting your family and friends to harass you, your addicted mind will desperately create reasons why you still need it. ‘I need a cigarette when I am stressed because it’s the only thing that calms me down.’ Wrong! There is a difference between a distraction and stress relief. How can something toxic that stimulates your mind and increases your heart rate really relax you? The stress you were experiencing before you smoked the cigarette will remain; the only difference is that you just inhaled hot polluted air, which temporarily occupied your mind with the stimulant it provided. The list of excuses your mind will make is endless. ‘I smoke because it’s social’: maybe sixty years ago, but how many people do you now alienate when you smoke a cigarette? Does it really give you pleasure to go out into -40 Celsius weather ten times a day for your fix? To emphasize the insanity: who else cruises with their window down in the middle of winter besides smokers? The first way to quit smoking is by admitting you’re addicted to a drug; then you must identify and acknowledge all the ways you have convinced yourself that it’s not that bad.

The whole group! Adam, Brandon, Garret, Dayna, Brett, JD, Dianne, Courtney, David and Spenser.

When I interview people in clinic about their smoking and encounter those who have managed to quit, I am always curious to know what prompted their change. Most often they remember that the day they quit smoking corresponded with the diagnosis of cancer, suffering a heart attack, or losing a loved one to the destructive habit. These answers really prompt the question: did these situations really give them the strength to quit? No, the strength to quit was in them the whole time; they just needed something to motivate a change in their pattern of thinking. Just remember, you are only a slave to those tobacco-filled cancer sticks if you choose to be. The nicotine addiction is real, but since the half-life of tobacco is short (about twenty minutes) your body is clear of nicotine in about three days and entirely free of it in one week. The physical addiction is actually pretty fast to get over and the withdrawal symptoms are equivalent to hunger pains; these symptoms definitely aren’t pleasant, but they are easy enough to survive. It’s your mind that requires real work to change. Remember this: when you do finally quit and see someone else lighting up, don’t bother envying him or her. The reality is that this person is envying you, the non-smoker, who is free from the prison the habit creates.

Change is never easy, but anything that’s worthwhile in this life rarely is. Freedom is impossible without control over your own mind and actions. People who truly live their lives do not fear death because they are enjoying every possible moment, rather than regretting what they might have done. When the abandonment of a harmful pleasure like smoking or eating double Big Macs leaves you feeling deprived, try to focus on what you are gaining instead. Rejoice in life instead of living a life of renunciation.