It seems like a blah day, but it's another beautiful day above ground.

It's raining here on the east coast, and when I got done with work at 7am (I am temporarily delivering newspapers), all I could think about was getting a nice long nap because I didn't sleep nearly enough last night. I wanted to ride my bicycle today, but I think the powers that be somehow knew I needed to just catch up on some sleep.
I used to be a star athlete in high school. I never had to think much about getting or staying in shape. I just loved sports sooo much, and it all came so naturally to me, that being in shape was sort of an afterthought. Since basketball was my number 1 passion, I guess that made it that much easier to be in shape because it is such a physically demanding sport.
Anyway, enough about my expertise from what seems like 100 years ago. A few significant things sort of evolved and I soon found myself in college, and gradually getting out of shape. I stopped growing at 5'8" so basketball didn't seem to be a viable future, though, I loved the sport, and was tenaciously good. The down side was that I played on 3 very losing teams in high school (all varsity level), and I didn't have alot of self esteem. I was mildly recruited by a few schools, but didn't want to play competitively anymore. I can't really remember the reasons why, however, soon after high school, I started smoking marijuana. By the time I went away to college, and was greeted while moving in, by the dorm president with a picture of beer in his hand, and a keg tapped nearby, I found my next true love. Partying and being irresponsible.
For so long I had lived life scared and I never new what was wrong with me. If this were an article about my addiction, I would go into much detail about what I did the next 16 years, but the end of it was, using alcohol and marijuana had consumed so much of me, I had little else left. I did get clean, have been for 13 and a half years and counting, and I attend a recovery fellowship that I will forever be grateful for. I mostly continue going because I want to give back my experience strength and hope to those who don't know yet that their own fear, insecurity, and low self-esteem, continue trapping them into believing there is no other way.
Anyway, what I've found out in my years of recovery is that I truly still do have a passion for being healthy, and staying in shape. HOWEVER, I've found it very difficult to maintain any sort of healthy eating or working out schedule. There's 100's of reasons/excuses why I wasn't able to get back or stay on track, until rather recently. I'm going to continue to share my story with those who want to hear it, and hopefully, continue to share my on-going success (or not) at maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If I workout, or don't, or eat healthy or decide to eat that plate of nasty fried french fries, you'll be the first to know. Take care for now all, and please be safe and healthy.