Opinion

I wish I’d had this talk with someone when I was a senior in high school setting out to set the world on fire. It was a pivotal moment that I’d waited for, but I didn’t have a clue what the real world and winging it on my own meant. Graduating seniors should focus on self-refl ection, goal setting, lifelong learning, and building healthy habits to navigate the transition into adulthood successfully. Reflect and know yourself Take time to reflect on your experiences and understand your values, interests and strengths. Knowing yourself helps in making informed decisions about your career, relationships, and personal growth. Avoid “drifting” by making conscious choices rather that following others’ expectations or default paths.

Raccoons are fascinating and exasperating — too intelligent for their own good —canny as a cat burglar. One got in our house.

A friend of mine recently lost his iPhone. I’ll call him Jack, since that’s his name. (He doesn’t read my column, so we’re safe here.)

Stimulating the vagus nerve may be the answer for chronic pain, heart disease, depression, and more. In a clinical trial, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) involves using a small, pulse-generated device about the size of a jelly bean which is implanted under the skin on the left side of the neck. The pulse generator wraps around your vagus nerve, which is the body’s longest cranial nerve (actually two nerves), that run from the brain stem down through the neck on both sides of the body. The vagus nerve relays information between vital organs, including the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, spleen, stomach, small intestine, colon, and the brain. For one minute each day, the small implanted device releases an electric pulse that travels through the vagus nerve to the brain. According to Dr. Kevin J. Tracey, neurosurgeon, president and CEO of Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the device activates what we call the inflammatory reflex, which signals the vagus nerve to slow down inflammation. He says although vagus nerve stimulation can’t undo existing damage, it can reduce inflammation so significantly that pain and future damage can be decreased in as little as one week up to two and a half years or more after the implant.

A friend and I were riding the beautiful backroads of our special and unique part of the world when we flushed a roadside crew of goldfinches. The little flitterers of sparkling gold fled us, startled but fearless, knowing our big selves would not and could not harm them.

Ever wonder why your brain seems to have a mind of its own when it comes to choosing the easy way out? Let’s look at how the path of least resistance manifests in our daily lives. It’s everywhere, folks — from the moment we wake up to the time we hit the hay.

Being a lifelong music fan and an occasional radio host, I’ve often baffl ed my family with my song selections. I believe that the driver of the vehicle controls the music. I’m the one who has to stay alert, right? So my lucky passengers have long been treated to my music choices. At first, it was a mix tape, aptly named. Later, I began “burning” random songs to compact discs. Now I create my own playlists, and play them directly from my phone into the car speakers.