"And the Truth Shall Set You Free!'

When the dentist asked me if I was doing my fluoride trays regularly I said ....."well kind of". We negotiated for a while and in the end I agreed that I use them approximately 3 times a week average. Of course that's not good enough but at least it's the truth.....aaaand she admitted that my teeth still look great! I actually do take better care of them than I did pre-cancer.

I thought I was having an idiot moment prior to my appointment. Over the years I have developed this uncanny ability to walk into the wrong gender washroom. I'm brushing my teeth today at the hospital when I notice the sanitary napkin dispenser on the wall! I scrambled to the door, and to my relief found both icons on the outside...phewww...

Speaking of truth here's another one I think I discovered. I used to believe that you needed incredible talent to be able to write a book, and while I still believe that there are some people with this talent, I now also know there are ways to be a successful author without any ...other than perhaps the talent to pick a title. If you get that one little part right it doesn't matter what's inside the cover...you can make millions. My proof? Go to the bookstore and you may find as I did(accidently) a book called "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul"!!! Aaaaand you will find it amongst at least 30 other books with the same general title...aaaand inside you will find nothing but fill!! Amazing! What's even more amazing is that almost every one of them is co-written by a different author. All of these co-writers are along for the ride on the "Chicken Soup" train, and even more special is that the original "Chicken Soup" authors don't have to do a thing, other than put their name on the cover and count their money. I tell you it was the title and nothing else that sells this stuff. Brilliant!

So I picked up a book while I was there as well. I bought it primarily because Elly recommended it, but I also like the title. "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" is written by a hungarian born Canadian by the name of Gabor Mate, and if you didn't guess, its topic is addiction. Once last week I picked up the book and put it back, and I did the same thing today before I eventually managed to get it up to checkout on my third try. Quite frankly the book scares me...even the title. It looks like a book of "truths". There are a few pictures in the book, clearly of addicts, and I see the ghost of my own hungry child in their eyes. That's why we don't always want to tell the truth or hear it...it hurts...at least in the short term. When the truth is a gut wrenching, hole in your heart kind of thing, it's hard to believe that facing it will set you free.

Kind of a recovery training day. My swim was really flat but I expected that after doing my weights yesterday. I took some debating what I would do for a run as I wasn't feeling like hills or the track. I ended up doing the 6 km trail run in the mud and ice. I almost went down once, but of course I don't learn from one mistake, and as such had to really crash before I started to be more careful. Despite the conditions it was an invigorating change from the boring old roads.

I wish to dedicate day 176 to my dads sister Ida, a woman I'm convinced who speaks only the truth.

"The problem's not that the truth is harsh but that liberation from ignorance is as painful as being born. Run after truth until your breathless. Accept the pain involved in re-creating yourself afresh. These ideas will take a life to comprehend, a hard one interspersed with drunken moments"---Naguib Mahfouz, as quoted in "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts"

“Truth has not special time of its own. Its hour is now -- always and indeed then most truly when it seems unsuitable to actual circumstances."---Albert Schweitzer

"We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter."---Denis Diderot

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