Skip to content

ainslies.org

a small, quiet life

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Archives
Menu

“You should do whatever you need to do to be happy.”

Posted on January 29, 2021September 4, 2021 by Steve Ainslie

I feel fantastic pretty much all of the time. As crazy as it first sounded to me, I think a lot has to do with being on the Carnivore diet.

My mind has a level of clarity I’ve never had before. My fitness, endurance, energy level and strength are through the roof.

I am almost never upset, anxious or worried. About anything.


There’s plenty to worry about – politics, money, social strife, Covid and the constant reporting  of doom and gloom news.

And yet, I am able to keep things in perspective. I’m not looking forward to getting Covid even though I expect I eventually will.

It’s just that I am focused every day on today and usually on “right now” or the immediate future – thinking about my next meal, drumming, sewing, walking the dog or my next project.

I taught myself how to shorten the sleeves of all of my shirts and jackets. That’s a topic for a future post. Suffice it to say, I have short arms like a T-Rex (or Ceelo Greene) and for the first time in my life, I don’t have to roll up any of my long sleeves.

Drumming is going gangbusters. I am progressing into other worlds here.

Same with exercise and fitness. I am doing things previously unimaginable.


When my wife was dying and I was falling apart, she said to me, “You should do whatever you need to do to be happy.”

I wanted to die.

I never thought I’d be happy again.

I certainly didn’t imagine the twists and turns that led me to where I am today – a loner, solo home owner, retired on a shoestring, in Raleigh, living a remarkably isolated life by choice as well as the Covid pandemic.

But you know what? I am doing what makes me happy – I exercise a lot. I swim. I drum. I learn new skills. I walk for hours a day with Wiggles. I eat a super strict diet and spend most of my time engaged in satisfying solo activities.

Thank you Ellen, for giving me your blessing to get here. I miss you and I’ll see you in my dreams.

Recent Posts

  • Giving Up Fighting Mother Nature
  • If It Hurts Don’t Do It
  • Not Today
  • Work/School From Home? Sorta.
  • A Little More Reasonable
  • Stormticipation
  • Risk/Reward
  • An Unexpected Upgrade
  • “There’s A 50% Chance You Are Below Average”
  • Plumbing Logic
© 2026 ainslies.org | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme