Let’s explore a story that we can relate to with plenty of symbols and metaphors relating to struggle. Bilbo Baggins is a little hobbit, living a pleasant life in his little hobbit hole, situated in the beautiful and lovely Shire. He lives a life of contentment and comfort, warm and cosy in his little hobbit hole. The End.
If the story truly ended there, The Hobbit wouldn’t be one of the most successful books of all time and wouldn’t have been made into three movies. It would be a boring and forgettable story. Instead the story continues. Bilbo receives a knock on the door one evening by a seemingly giant grey wizard: Gandalf The Grey. Gandalf informs Bilbo of a dragon that guards the gold and palace of the dwarves who lost their kingdom to this fire-breathing beast. Gandalf then requests that Bilbo help the dwarves regain their kingdom by sneaking into the palace and stealing the Arkenstone, so that thedwarves can live in their kingdom once more. Of course, due to the fact that Bilbo has been living a life of comfort for many years, he firmly declines this offer and returns to the warmth and uneventful hole he inhabits. However, the next evening, another knock on the door comes. This time it is a dwarf Dwalin, who enters Bilbos hole and starts to eat Bilbos dinner. Before Bilbo can stop him, another knock comes, then another and then another. Before he knows it there are twelve dwarves sitting at Bilbo’s dinner table eating all of his food. Gandalf then arrives. Then the leader of the group Thorin. They begin to plan their daring adventure to Eribor, in order to steal the Archenstone and slay the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo, again, firmly states that he will not be helping the dwarves and invites them all to leave. Eventually, after the dwarves sleep at Bilbos, they leave and set out on their adventure saddened by the hobbit’s choice. Bilbo awakens to thefamiliar sights and sounds of his little hobbit hole. Unfortunately he does not feel the same as he did a few days ago. He is no longer content. He can hear the call to adventure and runs to catch up with the dwarves and he embarks on this most unlikely adventure for a hobbit to embark upon. Bilbo and thedwarves encounter all sorts of obstacles along the way such as trolls, goblins and Gollum. Not to mention the dragon. Why do we find this tale so enchanting? It’s not simply that it’s a fun story with lots of interesting creatures. It’s because of the hero’s structure that runs throughout it, that also runs throughout many other captivating stories that we as humans seem to gravitate towards. Why do we gravitate towards the hero’s journey?

Embracing struggle doesn’t have to be depressing. It is adventure. A journey towards self-actualisation. A hero’s story.

It’s an innate human trait that we are captivated by a story regarding a character that overcomes their failures, setbacks or shortfalls and embarks on a journey with many obstacles along the way, overcomes them and receives some form of meaningful reward at the end of it. We are captivated by this because we are driven as humans to live this life too. Evolutionary speaking, we were first driven to this life in order to survive. We were forced to live this adventure because the alternative was death. We had to journey out to theunknown and encounter obstacles that come with hunting for food, finding a water source, finding a mate and finding warmth and shelter in order to find the meaning of survival and the continuation of ourselves through pro-creation. However, the world has vastly changed and with it, our stories as humans and the stories we create. As humans, most of us have food and water whenever we need it, we have warmth and shelter and we can “pro-create” regularly either through mates or through pornography. Therefore the stories that captivated us had to evolve too, to include greater and more difficult challenges such as mythological creatures. Once survival was certain, we had to find meaning in other adventures and journeys, such as creativity, inventions, science and philosophy. Therefore, the fact that we as a species are captivated by stories like that of The Hobbit, is an innate drive within us to replicate these stories for ourselves. But we cannot simply do this by watching these movies or reading these books, we must actually listen to the call for adventure within us and sprint out of our comfortable little hobbit holes and chase after then meaning and purpose that comes knocking at the door. This will come with struggles and obstacles, perhaps not goblins and trolls, but you will encounter your fair share of obstacles. Furthermore, these obstacles will become progressively more challenging the further your embrace struggles, better yourself and take on greater and greater challenges. The further you tread, the closer you become to a momentous dragon that must be slain. This represents something that if you were to go back to your previous self, sitting comfortably in your hobbit hole and think of this dragon, you would laugh in disbelief that you could ever slay it. However, like Bilbo, you have shouldered your fair share of suffering thus far, therefore you have been constantly re-born better and stronger with each goblin and troll defeated, and thus have theability to confront what is needed to confront in order to find meaning and purpose.

You may be happy and content lying on the couch by the roaring fire, but truly ask yourself: Will I be this happy and content when I’m looking back on this life if I didn’t achieve anything of value expect living a comfortable life? I hope the answer is no. Additionally, embracing struggle doesn’t have to be depressing. It is adventure. A journey towards self-actualisation. A hero’s story.

Keep On Struggling

Gregor

Protein Bars I Attempted To Make

I have recently been meal-prepping to be more organised and save money and recently attempted to make protein bars. Honestly, they weren’t bad. They were very chewy however so I think they require less rolled oats.
I followed a few recipes online but put my own spin on them. The ingredients I ended up using were:

Frozen Raspberries - 2 in each bar

250g Rolled Oats

59ml Maple Syrup

125g Peanut butter

125g Whey Protein Powder

59ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

50g Melted White Chocolate

Melt and mix the peanut butter, maple syrup and milk in a pot

Mix melted ingredients with the protein powder and oats

Lightly grease a baking tray and flatten the mixture to your preferred thickness
Pop the raspberries into the mixture and drizzle the chocolate over the top with better precision than me
Leave to cool then slice them into bars and refrigerate

These bars pack an impressive 11g of protein and 2.5g sugar approximately, so if I can just make them a little less chewy, they’d be perfect. I’ll post an updated recipe once I figure this out.

High Protein/Low Carb Meal Prep

I’ve also been meal-prepping my lunches too and made a healthy fajita mix for this week. These taste great and are extremely healthy, with very little carbs and high protein.
Here’s the ingredients I used but these can, of course, be altered to suit your needs:
400g Beef
Two Tins Sweetcorn
Tin of Kidney Beans
Tin of Black Beans
g Cherry Tomatoes
2 Red Onions
Bag of Fajita Seasoning
1 Lime
2 Avocados
Greek Yoghurt
Small Amount of Grated Cheese
Basically, I just cooked the beef in a pan, added the tomatoes, onions and corn and cooked until soft, then the beans. Then added the seasoning and a couple squeezes of lime juice, then popped the mix into prep containers, added a small amount of cheese to each. Then I served each meal with some sliced avocado and a couple tablespoons of Greek yoghurt.

Post from My Instagram

If you do not follow my Instagram, firstly, why not? Secondly, you missed a clip I posted from Episode 2 of The In Context Podcast, in which I explored drug policy and interviewed charity worker Lisa Rigby, drugs activist Garth Mullins and drugs activist and expert ‘Rowdy’ Yates. This episode was recorded two years ago and I posted this clip to show that little has changed since, regarding drug users and policy. Here’s the caption:
Here’s a recent (28th July) headline from the BBC -
“The number of people who died of drug misuse in Scotland last year dropped slightly to 1,330 - the first time the figure has been down in eight years”
That is 1,330 too many given that these deaths could’ve been prevented had there been changes to drug policy and aid. This clip was recorded 2 years ago and little has changed. A state ceases to function when it fails to protect its most vulnerable populations.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with drug use, seeking help or harm-reducing information could save a life 🪐
Watch Episode 2 of The In Context Podcast on YouTube or listen via Apple or Spotify Podcasts
Edinburgh - Visit Crew2000.org.uk to seek help or to receive credible & harm-reducing info
UK - Visit Mind.org.uk for a list of charities & organisations that can help and inform
Follow my Instagram (link at the bottom of the page), to view the clip and to stay up to date with everything concerning The In Context Podcast, TheStruggle for Meaning Newsletter and to see all the other clips I post every week.

Recipe I’m Excited to Cook This Week - Anthony Bourdain’s Portuguese Chorizo & Kale Stew

I’ve only made this recipe properly once due to the size of the ingredient list, however it is most definitely worth it as it tastes unbelievable. The trick is to cook it with a ham hock for hours, the longer the better. I’m making this recipe at a small family gathering this weekend and I am beyond excited.

Check out the recipe below.

CLICK HERE

Quote to Ponder

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit - Harry Truman

References

Portuguese Chorizo & Kale Stew Image Credit - tacojake.com