This summer marks roughly a little over a year without drinking alcohol and regaining my mental wellness. At first glance after reading the last sentence, one might be thinking..."great proud of you, what is so important about this time?" Over the last year and especially over the last few months this summer, I have seen a substantial improvement in my wellness. I will elaborate a few of the ups and downs that have brought me closer to a better state of well-being--since time has passed since my last post. Only through disclosure of both the 'successes' and 'setbacks' can one truly understand another persons path to wellness. Otherwise, reading a blog is similar to reading a 'fictional' story.
I have been riding my bicycle to work as usual on the train. Although, I must say that I have driven a few times this summer -- intermittently, and I can definitely see the difference in my anxiety level as a result of not having the morning burst of activity of riding my bike to the train station. In addition, reading on the train allows my mind to prepare itself for the day of dealing with intellectually challenging issues. Since I had only been riding up to July of this year and the last half of this year, I had not realized the effect of returning to a car would have on my daily routine. I found myself at a heightened state (not bad, but just uncomfortable) at different points of the day. This proved that a daily routine of exercise really does get ingrained into our thinking and our overall wellness. Over time, our bodies expect to have this type of release at intervals throughout the day. If you do not listen to your body--like I did not and made a lazy executive decision to drive rather than ride my bicycle, I found the results were adversely related to my health. Each of us needs to find a pattern that works for us and stick to the routine--changing the components in small increments over time so that the body and mind can adjust to those changes. The last few months have brought that realization to mind--which is good--a realization allows one to minimize the negative or anxiety ridden energy in one's life to a bearable (and a non medicated level) to attain peace and well-being.
Changing up my routine in the manner that I did in July and having experienced a slightly adverse affect on my mental well-being along with my physical state of health taught me that changes need to be incremental--as mentioned above. I realized this abruptly in the form of an interaction with a 'service engineer' that came to fix an instrument with which I started a discussion regarding wellness and fitness. Turns out that he had just (as in the last few months ) made a huge change in his exercise routine that allowed him to drop a substantial amount of weight in a short amount of time (90 pounds in 60 days). Upon hearing this amount in such a short amount of time, the thought that occupied my mind was that loss in such a short time was rather unhealthy and might be unsustainable. He works out at the gymn 5 days a week and rides at least 30 miles at the beach (where he lives) each day on the weekend. For me, this routine would not necessarily work. Let me tell you why....
I tried this and have not felt that great as a result. In my mind, the dominant thought is that given the improvement that I am seeing in my body, how well can I sustain to keep this routine going over time? I have had success in the short term, but after exhaustion catches up or the mundane routine of working out keeps eating away at you like you are a 'mouse' in a fitness experiment, I personally lose interest. For me, I have to come up with a routine that is gradual in weight loss and one that is sustainable. Having stopped drinking last summer, I immersed myself into riding long rides on the weekends. That was great, except, that when trip came out of town or a social function happened that prevented me from riding, I found myself getting a little depressed along with some anxiety. Anxiety is not bad and can be constructive as I have mentioned in the past. Finding avenues that can relieve this stress is healthy and very therapeutic. Lately, I have been happy with my exercise routine that is modest. Although, I did have a couple of instances that could be considered 'setbacks'.
Two times this summer, I felt great physically, not exactly where I wanted to be -- but on the right course. I found that at these times, people came up to me and said "Mike, you are getting a belly..." I was blown away. Multiple people telling me on the same exact day that I was getting a belly when I felt great. Amazing--I could not believe it. I do not know why this was the case....did I have a sign that said "mike feels great--knock him down." Maybe. This taught me a lesson on listening to my inner voice and not that of others. We all must learn to do that. If you feel great and are happy with the quality of life, then others can go take a hike. That is not to say do not listen at all to them. Maybe they are telling you something that you are missing in your own analysis. The important aspect of receiving advice is that you weigh the advice and take the advice in strides according to those that will provide the greatest success in your well-being.
I have been reading widely and a couple of the articles that I come across regarding wellness have a common theme....Self-reflection is good. Although, beating one's self up too much is unhealthy and impedes forward success. I have been writing on a friend's blog site about various science that arises in the popular news media platforms that is important in my mind and from a 'chemist's' standpoint--which is what I am. Click --Here-- to read some articles by yours truly. The site is called 'voicesinecho.com'. There is even opportunity for you to contribute whatever is on your mind on the site. I think that this platform is extremely therapeutic for others besides myself. Writing on this blog is good, but wellness success comes over time. Sometimes, indirectly writing about another topic related to science is therapeutic and can spark information regarding your own wellness that you did not realize. Check it out.
I would like to leave you with an analogy regarding wellness that I have come up with over the summer. Wellness for me has amounted to driving a car....one needs to focus on the road ahead looking only slightly at times in the 'rearview' mirror (at your past). When you get to your destination, you can review the map of the road that you took and think of a more optimized route that you would like to take in the future. I am curious as to your analogy to wellness. You can e-mail that to me if you would like. see the contact page. I hope that you have enjoyed this post. Have a great day.