Fridays are supposed to be fun, right? Well I think this fits the bill...
Wish me luck on actually getting fit/strong enough to do my pull up. Right now I am quite overweight, but "fit" thanks to cycling. In case you're worrying that I'm feeling down on myself, don't, because I'm not.
What follows is a quitting smoking story. If that stuff doesn't appeal to you, please bail now.
I have wrestled with smoking for much of my adult life. When I've smoked, it was typically a pack a day or more. Here's my whacko smoking chronology:
Age 16-30: smoker
Age 30-40 or so: quit and happy about it
Age 40-46: On and off smoking, often quitting for months at a time but always falling back into it.
My Dad died (of lung cancer) when I was about 40. I fell off the wagon at that time; my brothers smoke and, well, shit happens, I guess. I hate smoking, but addiction is a very strange thing, as anyone who's ever been addicted to anything can tell you.
Addiction flies in the face of reason, logic, morality, intelligence, common sense, blah blah blah. The thing is, if you've never experienced addiction personally, addicted people seem more like selfish people rationalizing their own selfishness. To a certain extent, maybe that's true; depends on the person, I would think. Still, I think it is safe to say that all addicted people would happily trade their fucked-up (and often selfish) addiction for freedom from their stupid substance ANY DAY.
In case you hadn't noticed, addiction fascinates me. Drugs, booze, smokes, whatever. Addiction touches all of our lives, like it or not. If you have never experienced addiction, you should be thanking your lucky stars HARD. For myself, I am thanking my lucky stars that I have escaped my addiction to nicotine once more, for 5.5 months so far. When you're addicted to something, your fight is never ever ever over. It gets easier over time, but won't ever go completely away, and that's alright, because every day out from under an addiction is cause for celebration.
So, I'm overweight and can't yet do a pull up, but I haven't smoked in a long while and enjoy riding my bike every weekday. I also have a family who loves me and a pretty decent job. I am in no way down on myself, nor should you be, I bet. Look hard at what you have; if you're reading this, I'm guessing it comes to a great deal when you think about it.
Holy crap! This post started with "Friday's are supposed to be fun"! What the hell happened there? Damned if I know, but thanks for reading, for sure.
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K 
12 comments:
Good luck. I'm with ya on the weight thing but never smoked my addiction is more of a coffee thing. =) Have you checked out the Durian rider vlogs I like the idea of weight loss without the calorie restriction approach. It has helped me with the weight. =) PS. keep and eye on your blood pressure. =).
Keep up the great work, Rantwick, we're pulling for ya!
John - I'm all over that bp, no worries
Pondero - pulling. hah!
Keep breathing that organic, free-range air, with no additives. Addiction is one of those traps you can only learn about the hard way. You don't know you're susceptible until you try whatever it is and find yourself bound to it. May you have the patience and endurance to remain free.
You are doing it, Patrick.
You can do it.
You will do it.
Just hang in there.
You can do it.
Peace :)
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement, Chandra and Cafiend! Things are going just great; feelin' good about lots of things. I'm quite bullish that I have arrived where I needed to be. Now on to the rest!
I heard somewhere that, "It's okay to not be okay, but don't stay there." So, yeah, I think you've done a good job getting off the smoking wagon so you could ride for a longer time!
Sooner than later, you'll be able to do pull-ups. Just put your mind into it.
I remain free. Join me again. Per Rantwick comments at http://dfwptp.blogspot.com/2009/10/cyclings-dangerous.html?m=0 Even if. Boxing Day is months away.
I am a smoker, I know smoking is bad for my lung, but I don't know how to stop it, i have tried many times but it always failed. I hope there will be a magic pil that can destroy my smoking wish -_-
Hey Steve, sorry it took so long to get to your comment. I'm so pleased that you're still on the wagon... good on ya man. When I wrote this post I was at 5.5 months free, and now I'm at over 7, so all is well. I'm thinking Boxing Day looks great too!
emo - I wish I had that magic pill for you. Everyone is different, so I won't push any advice. You can do it, and when you do, it feels really really good.
nice nice :)
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