Alcoholism Recovery - What's up with me

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What's up with me

2006-05-01, 10:57 am

Am taking off until early June. Will be heading for FLA and the Keys.
Plan to do some diving along the way at freshwater springs, then headed
for salt water. Hope you make use of the outdoors as well in your own
life. No need to be stuck in front of the computer all day and night. I
once heard a lecture by Alan Watts where he quoted Anton Van
Leeuwenhoek ( The father of the microscope) regarding this subject as;
"The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be
experienced." I hope you may all experience life in a most fulfilling
way this summer.

The last few days out on the asphalt exercise trail I run into a big
mouth senior jogger that keeps yelling LAZY at me when he sees me on my
motoboard. (gas skateboard) I got sick of him hurling 'lazy' insults at
me so I slowed down while riding to talk with him. Over the years many,
many people tell me this gas skateboard is 'cheating' - especially the
women critics. The kids are in awe and once in a while ask to ride it,
but adults seeing an old graybeard like me at 52 ride it look dismayed
or in shock. In any case, I had to knock this senior down a notch or
two as he dissed me a little too many times. I always ask such critics
if they think this gas board is nothing and offers no physical or
health benefits if they wish to try it? 100% of the replies over the
years have been NO...they do not even want to stand on it while
stopped...the big mouths do not even wish to touch it.

This senior critics complaint was the gas board offered no aerobic
benefit. (It doesn't offer aerobics, but it offer speed training,
equilibrium training and balance and coordination training, which
jogging does not.) And going 20 to 25 mph on a skateboard on hard
asphalt is not for wussies and does take some training. In addition
your legs get a good workout from squatting for 20 minutes on it. The
critic assumed that aerobics was the only thing that counted in life.
Aerobics is important, but so if flexibility training, strength
training, balance and coordination training and much more. I had done
my road work that morning by trail running in the forest on dirt,
instead of on asphalt, but didn't have time to go into detail with the
critic. When I answered the critics aerobic complaints, he switched
gears and complained I wore no helmet and was unsafe. As far as helmet,
he was right, a helmet is safer, but it is my choice. I wear plenty of
helmets while white water kayaking, dirt biking, mountain biking,
rappelling and much more. Just do not wear one on gas board, so had no
answer for him, other than I'm used to winter riding and wear many
layers and a face mask when it is cold.

As I speed off and left the jogger in the dust I tried to shrug off all
the critics that I have run into over the years that work to tear
people down instead of building them up. (On asphalt or in cyberspace
critics are in no shortage.) Besides the motoboard recently bought
myself a crave stik and carve board. Love them both as they offer more
specialized training the motoboard does not offer, since I keep the
trucks tight on the gas board so it can be used at high speed. If you
are a physical mess and in poor heath think about adducing some heath
related activities to your life. PS, check out carveboard and motoboard
on the web to see them in action. (no commercial interest in
either...just fun and health interests)

Here is an old post ion this subject...and forget the critics you only
have to please yourself.

"The less you do...the less you will be able to do."

The less you do...the less you will be able to do. I was reminded of
this truism back in June when the public pool opened up. I generally
swim in the pool during summer time and then just quit for the other 9
months out of the year when the outdoor pool closes at Labor Day. I
felt that I do many movement related activities that are just as good
as swimming such as weight training, jogging, yoga, mountain biking,
cross country skiing, etc. Well, the day after my first day back in the
pool my back was pinched as well as my shoulder. Apparently weight
training, jogging and mountain biking is not the same as doing the
backstroke.

I first learned of this concept that the less you do...the less you
will be able to do from my Mom. One day she got dizzy while bending
over. My dad told her that he would bend over for her, so she would not
get dizzy. Apparently he did not realize that the less you do...the
less you will be able to do. Well, his well meaning help only
encouraged more dizziness in Mom since the fluid in her ear that
regulates equilibrium and balance would stagnate from less movement.
Mom then complained about getting dizzy when she got out of bed. What
was her answer? She would sleep in a recliner at an angle so she would
not have to lie down and go through the dizziness. The angle gradually
kept getting steeper until she had to sleep sitting almost upright.
What is V's response to all this dizziness? If something make me dizzy
- I do more of it and make myself even more dizzy. (As long as it is
not a medical issue. To satisfy the women critics that complain to me,
my Mom, she has gone to doctors weekly since I was a little boy and is
a pill abuser. So pills and doctors are not the issue with her. Movent
or lack of movent is what is missing from her life not pills and
doctors.)

I've seen many MD's that are supposed to be experts at health yet they
fail terribly when it comes to themselves. On a walking trail I met a
retired doctor the other day. He was bent over and quite distorted. I
talked with him at length about his exercise program and diet. He does
plenty of walking - but walking bent over in bad form. Gravity keeps
pulling him in the wrong direction, so he keeps perpetuating the bad.
He did no weight training, no yoga, no stretching, no work on righting
his posture through various mechanical methods. He was not distorted
due to ill health, he was distorted from years of heading in the wrong
direction with his posture and his life. I planted many seed in him for
right living, but do not know if they will sprout. this is an area
where we are all on level ground whether rich or poor. You cannot pay
your butler to eat healthy food for you or to do your exercises. BTW,
what was I doing on the asphalt walking trail? I was rollerblading and
running my gas powered motoboard. (skateboard) The motoboard. goes 30
mph and provides good speed training as well a balance and equilibrium
training.

As we age we seem to lose many abilities. Now, losing some skills is
fine, but losing most of them is not. Personally I have to be mindful
of many areas as I like to be as well rounded as possible with my
health. I was doing some rock climbing a few years ago near Malibu and
did OK after I got warmed up. A year later after laying off all
climbing, when I returned to the same place to climb I had knots in my
stomach when I first viewed the climb. It looked scary to me, but once
I got at it and started to climb, the knots disappeared. This also
taught me that the less you do...the less you will be able to do. If I
cant get some rock climbing in I try to pull out the ladder for some
second story work or climb a tree.

This year was reminded this same lesson the first time I got back on
the high dive in June. The high dive seemed too high for me, so I
stayed off it the last few years. This year I decided to back on the
high dive. I do not do anything to brag about on it, but just going off
it was a good improvement for me. Was hoping to do some back flips off
the less high springboard, but did not get around to trying them this
season. My regular springboard diving improved in any case and at my
age I am grateful for any improvement - it beats going backwards. Guess
I'll just have to dream about the back flips for now. Actually dreaming
can help. Psycho Cybernetics was created by Maxwell Maltz and this
process of visualizing movents to perfect them helps with many sports.

This weekend starts a local GNCC style dirt bike course opening. It is
only opened for 7 days a year for public riding. The 2 places I rode at
last year shut down, so have had to curtail my dirt bike work. Dirt
bikes provide much in the area of equilibrium, balance and speed
training. Also provide much physical exertion and when you ride em you
will feel it later. Doing wheelies is also great training for an old
dog like me. One young neighbor lady ran out her house to chase me down
the street to scold me for doing wheelies in the street. What is the
other option that would please her...a rocking chair and slippers? No,
I prefer to keep my rocking chair as my 450 Honda thumper that breathes
fire and emits thunder and will keep my motocross boots as my slippers.
I hope to be doing wheelies down the street when I'm 80 if I live that
long. Tonight when I got out my dirt bikes for the first time in months
I was reminded of the less you do...the less you will be able to do. My
back was sore and wrist got pinched a little when I came down from a
wheelie and jump in my backyard while warming them up. When I go out
tomorrow will wear some wrist supports and a kidney belt but will keep
on keeping on.

Height training, speed training, strength training, mental training,
flexibility training, balance and equilibrium training - there are many
areas to train ourselves. If you aspire to be a mountaineer there is
cold training as well as high altitude training as good preparation for
climbing Everest or K2. If you ski then speed training is good. But
speed training on skis is different from speed training on snowboards,
as I found out last year. And speed training in snow sports is
different from speed training while driving a motorcycle as my son
found out. And speed training while driving a motorcycle is different
from speed training while sprinting the 100 meters. And none of the
preceding activities necessarily help with riding a unicycle or
learning to juggle.

Cross training is important, but many activities do not exactly replace
other activities. So, the moral of the story is do all that you can do,
for a day will come when you cannot do it any longer and all you can do
is watch. This year will seek out a public indoor pool for the other 9
months cause in addition to doing my weight training, jogging, speed
training, mountain biking, cross country skiing, snowboarding and yoga
- they are not the same as doing the backstroke. And no matter what
physical activity you participate in, don't forget to warm up and
stretch. What does this post have to do with addiction recovery work as
one lady critic wrote me when it was posted earlier? You can answer
that question for yourself do you have a better chance at recovery when
your mind is clear, you body is healthy and you fell confident and have
self esteem? Or do you do better when are a dizzy mess, depressed,
losing mobility and skills, fearful and in poor physical shape?

"Minds like bodies will often fall into a pimpled, ill condition state
from mere excess of comfort" ~ Charles Dickens

Take care,

V (vfr - male)

For free access to my earlier posts on voluntary simplicity, compulsive
spending, debting, compulsive overeating and clutter write to my
address listed under ''V''at the recovery byte cafe. Any opinion
expressed here is that of my own and is not the opinion, recommendation
or belief of any group or organization. Comments requiring a response
should be sent direct.

Gregg Fowler

2006-05-01, 5:56 pm

On Mon, 01 May 2006 08:21:58 -0500, V <vfr44@aol.com> wrote:

> The last few days out on the asphalt exercise trail I run into a big
> mouth senior jogger that keeps yelling LAZY at me when he sees me on my
> motoboard. (gas skateboard) I got sick of him hurling 'lazy' insults at
> me so I slowed down while riding to talk with him. Over the years many,
> many people tell me this gas skateboard is 'cheating' - especially the
> women critics.

Probably just giving you grief because typically any type of motorized
vehicle isn't allowed on an excercise trail. Understandable.

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