I recall weighing around 66 kilos (10 stone 6 pounds, 146 pounds) in my early 20s and standing about 182 centimetres (six feet tall). I wore a large size tee-shirt, large size boxer shorts, large size pullover and so forth. I lost a few kilos (too much fasting) in my years as a Buddhist monk in Thailand before returning to the UK in my early 30’s but regained weight after I disrobed.
In the mid-1980s. I weighed around 68 kilos. The large size was too big. So I had to switch to medium size for my tee-shirt, pants, pullover etc.
In the past few years, I still weigh around 68 kilos ( about 10 stone 10 pounds, 150 pounds), sometime reaching 70 kilos. I now buy small size tee-shirt etc as the medium size feels too big.
It doesn’t end there.
I went to an instantly forgettable shopping mall in Brisbane, Australia, last December with my 92 year old mum to get a tee-shirt.
(Incidentally, we can longer call ourselves Home Sapiens. We are Homo Shopiens. We are still primitive with our hunter-gatherer mentality at its strongest in the Mall).
I visited Target store (pronounced Tarjjey by our American cousins with tongue in cheek). I held up a small size tee-shirt. It looked too big. Too wide, too loose.
I went to the young men’s section aged 12-16, for a tee-shirt. A tee shirt for a 14 year old fitted perfectly. I spent my $5.00 and left a satisfied customer.
The though arose: What will happen in 10 years? I could be looking for a teeshirt in the kid’s section of the store where my little grandchildren currently go with their mum.
Large, medium, small and smaller has no true reality to it. We live in a world of temporary measurements.
Let’s keep focussed on the Immeasurable. This is the realm for homo sapiens.