blog #7 The Open Water

Contentment, happiness and joy are all examples of the aspirations we all strive to experience during the minimal moments of leisure found periodically through out the monotonous hustle and bustle of what is our reality. This concept is apparent to all of us when after a long day of school or work when we plop down on the most comfortable piece of furniture kick off our shoes to let the dogs breath and exhale that deep relaxing sigh of relief. This search for relief is naturally perceived by most but one of the first to academically analyze this concept was a world renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud, who concluded the Pleasure Principle; The ideology that our purpose in life is to seek gratification. This satisfaction is explored by many through a myriad of avenues. For some the expression of self through art or the ability to convey emotions through music are great solutions to this goal but others are inclined to a more active form of finding joy. To some the feeling of reeling in that majestic aquatic beast after a long arduous battle between man and animal is the most gratifying. Fishing for some is more than a hobby its a way of life and  the inevitable wait for that trophy prize is sublime.
Shore anglers in rural areas make up the majority of the percentage of people who indulge in the sport but an increasing spike in the percentage of urban dwelling individuals is rapidly catching up. Fishing is a sport dictated by seasonal patterns and strictly regulated by an array of restrictions. Guidelines set up to up keep the delicate ecosystem that so many humans rely on for livelihood and recreation. As an avid fisherman myself I become ecstatic when January first rolls around in my current area of Oregon. That marks the opening day of trout season in Oregon. Fishing is not an easy sport it requires patience, technique and quite frankly luck. In appliance with Oregon fishing and wildlife services my attempts to capture my elusive adversary become snagged by more meticulous regulations such as only being allowed to use barbless hooks and the constant presence of peering enforcement through magnified eyes ensures this. However an adamant angler does not let anything stop him from acquiring that feel of admiration fishing employes on its enthusiasts even if you don't get a bite all day. You wake up the next morning and cast that line back in the open water.

Blog #6 PEDs

The use of performance enhancing drugs in sports is an ever prevailing force that is not only tarnishing athletes reputations but demoralizing the essence of competition. Baseball, Basketball and Football have been a significant aspect of our culture for generations. Sports used to represent a sense of unity and in some instances attributed to the immersion of two separate cultures. For example lacrosse, a game adapted from Native American tribes indigenous of Canada was originally a "war game," mean to teach military tactics. With the introduction of Europeans this immersion between two separate cultures evolved into the game that we associate with today as the affluent sport of lacrosse.
Sports used to represent much more than gathering in a man cave with a cooler full of frosty bud lights plopped in front of the boob tube and the athletes who are participants are now expected to live not only by higher physical expectations but moral as well. I am not saying our lethargic approach as fans to the perception of sports is dictated by the growing trend of steroid use but they are correlated. The culture of sports has dramatically shifted in play and perception. Not only do fans expect more from athletes but coaches and recruiters are raising the expectancy to be at physical perfection. In sports talent dictates livelihood and in a rapidly growing competition base athletes make decisions to illegally race to be the best. Increased physical talent that simply could not be naturally acquired pressures other athletes to indulge in banned substances. The use of performance enhancing drugs is not only cheating the sport but its cheating the millions of people who idolize these artificially enhanced superior physical specimens.  
 In this culture it is a fact that people idolize super star's, through posters on walls, media, and monuments. The superior athlete used to be an iconic symbol and in some instances represented civil rights movements. Cases like Jackie Robinson, the first professional African American baseball player represented an entire race of individuals and was a symbol of change. Recently the Barry Bond's posters have been ripped off the walls and Live Strong bracelets cut off wrists through this prevailing trend of performance enhancing drug use.
While the majority of the adult population may be discouraged by these actions of betrayal and deceit the inspirational qualities sports generate have not detached everyone, instead it raises another issue. The use of performance enhancing drugs in adolescents is in a neck to neck race with use at a professional level. Trends are a very prominent aspect of our cultural; from musical and art movements to the shift from pompadours and leather jackets. Trends most of all influence the new emerging generation of adolescents and the prevalent trend of succeeding physically through any means is a dangerous one. I feel sports play a tremendous role in building character and preservation of values but this ideology that success by any means is being instilled in our professional and amateur athletes alike and it is deteriorating the moral and cultural foundation that sports were built on.

On A Pill

Hypothyroidism, also known as an under active metabolism is a condition that lowers the production of essential hormones. Hormones that are vital to the physical and mental development of people. A slow metabolism is often associated with the senior citizen with male patterned baldness who not only lacks physical interaction but is not mentally stimulated on a regular  basis. This assertion that hypothyroid is indicative of your age or even the lifestyle you lead is not always the reason. The exception to the statistical information is that I am physically active and utilize my mental abilities on a regular basis yet I have been eating a little yellow pill every morning before my breakfast for the last fifteen years of my life. This unfortunate condition that has been posed upon me was not a choice. I don't believe any person would choose to have to work three times as hard as a person with a normal functioning metabolism just to appear healthy. My condition and this mandatory consumption of a Synthroid pill are a genetic result of a handed down tradition through out my family for generations. This condition that is responsible for causing excessive fatigue, slow mental development, inability to metabolize food at a normal rate and a myriad of other negative symptoms is not very genetically prevalent. Besides the thousands of individuals over the age of fifty whose metabolisms have naturally declined I am the lucky adolescent benefactor who has inherited the condition. In fact, in the United States one in five thousand children genetically contract hypothyroid annually. I am not certain of the United States population but I feel it is not an everyday occurrence that on the glorious day of child birth the doctor informs the two previously exuberant parents that their new born will have a life lasting condition that will negatively influence the way they live for the rest of time.
As a carrier of this condition since a new born I have not really looked into the exact cause of my hypothyroidism or even the anatomical location of my "thyroid." The thyroid is in fact the largest endocrine gland in the body and rests in your throat right below the larynx. As I previously stated the gland produces thyroid hormone responsible for physical body and mental growth; regulating breathing, maintaining a stable body temperature, producing energy and digesting food. These are the main functions the thyroid produces but the lack of an efficient thyroid can be far more detrimental to the human body. In cases when babies genetically receive this condition the affects can be very extreme. One such affect is that it reduces the ability to develop cognitively often leading to mental retardation. The physical toll an inefficient thyroid has on a child can go as far as delaying puberty and stunting growth. In some severe instances children can even lead to ataxia, which is the inability to coordinate muscle movement.
For my last nineteen years here on this earth I consider myself a fortunate individual.  I have not suffered any of the severe side effects of a less efficient thyroid gland that I covered. I do experience excessive fatigue and who knows maybe I will suffer from baldness when I am older. But as of now my life does not seem to out of the ordinary.The monotonous task of consuming this little yellow pill every morning has just become a habit; it is as regular as stepping one foot in front of the other as I walk. If This condition that I've had for nineteen years and will have until the day I rest six feet under has taught me anything it is that some people have to work harder for what they want than others. I don't ever publicize my condition because I know there are other individuals who may have experienced the more severe side of the side effects as children, I just try my best to compensate for this discrepancy and have become a harder worker because of it, physically and mentally.