Fulfilling Weekend

This past weekend was everything that the previous one was not. There were no freak injuries and I got done many of the things I wanted to do. Not everything, my lawn remains unfed, but many little things. The biggest change I made was moving all the "must-do" items up a day. Generally I save laundry and groceries for Sunday morning, as you all probably know by now, well maybe the one or two that are still looking at this from time to time. This past weekend I moved those tasks up to Saturday. I also pushed myself to ride the bike on Saturday too. I actually did it twice. It was pretty refreshing. My idea of maybe trying to use to overcome things has a glint of hope. What idea is that Tugboat? Well, years ago I knew a girl named the Gypsy and she was having some hard times in her personal life, it's not my place to get into it but we were friends and I tried to be there for her as much as she'd allow, being a fairly private person. I did learn from her that her primary method of stress relief was going for a run. She would achieve that runner's high that people talk about and could just shutdown her mind and only focus on what was happening in the moment. I never got that with running or exercise in general. I would just be wheezing and struggling the whole time. She was in phenomenal shape, which probably helped her cause but still. This year I'm looking at what is working for me and what isn't when it comes to things in life and my stress relief is going to need some overhaul. Until recent years I never acknowledged being stressed, because champions don't, and I'm a champion. But despite that, when I would get overwhelmed or frustrated I'd turn to two things. One was playing a video game I know I could beat. Playing NHL on easier settings to destroy an opponent was a satisfying way to kick back. Rare times I would still lose and that really set me off. The other move I'd pull was to eat. Usually I would combine these two methods. Games could alternatively be substituted by movies, an escape from reality. I actually really valued movies as an escape. Probably cheaper and safer than heroin, which is obviously the only alternative. But those things aren't going to be suitable any longer I've determined. I don't have time to do them anymore and I'm realizing that the stressful nature of my career has caused some over-reliance on these things. So I'm hoping to break the cycle. Leave them as a place to visit rarely rather than a regular retreat. I'm not sure what's going to happen but I'm going to take a page from Gypsy and try displacing other things with exercise. What's the worst that could happen right? Famous last words.....