Today feels like the beginning of my life. Well to start, I am 27, a mixed child from Los Angeles, and yes today I feel like it's the first day of my life. This has happened before in my life, but there is something different that I am doing this time. I am realizing I don't have the control I want, and I have never experienced the amount of control in which I am seeking to. I haven't stumbled upon a lump some of money or found a good replacement for heroine, I am dedicating time in my day to getting healthier and being a better decision maker. It took me a while to get the courage up to get going on this, but the time has come for me to grow up, and develop some new habits that will increase the joy and passion I have for life.
Getting out on the road. Running was the start of this movement, back at the end of September I quit the worst habit I believe I have ever had. Smoking cigarettes. That was a 6-7 year habit for me. I started very late in my life. The first time I had ever tasted a cigarette I was very young, I was dating my first girlfriend I believe, and she wore a cool leather coat, she was white, with blond hair, I followed her home the first day we were official, and she pulled out a cigarette and asked if I wanted to take a puff. I said sure, I have always been an experimenter, and the first taste was terrible. I didn't touch another one again for 10 years. It was a fatiguing, lethargic habit. I have had my fair share of issues with alcohol, and other non-prescription drugs, but none as painful to overcome, nor as depleting of energy. I still can't fully function currently at peak with my lungs, or have full use of taste buds, many of my senses feel as if they were hampered. Now that I have been actively working on my health I have been experiencing leaps and bounds of improvement in my state of mind, and in my relationship in various aspects of it. Running 20 minutes a day 3 times per week for a total of 1 hour per week really killed a lot of the initial quitting cold turkey issues. I was also doing 4 sets of 20 sit-ups and 15 push-ups for 2 weeks. I took a week off of running but escalated the push-ups and sit-ups by 5 per set per week. I am now at 4 sets of 35 sit-ups and push-ups and running a total of 1 hour 10 minutes per week. Running has been amazing, but moderately difficult. I can admit that there are times in which mental strain and physical strain could have had me walking much of my run, but this is the area in which much of my improvement through the weeks has come as I have stuck to the routine. Building a work ethic from scratch. Many of my thoughts have been reinforced by other good habits as well, one of which is reading. Positive, contextual quotes from reading have fed a state of mind which is much more relaxed and prepared for the arduous task of running.
Breathing has come to be a core component that is just as important as the exercises themselves. Stretching is a part of my current routine, but I have to mention what's been going on in the area of breathing. I was a smoker previously, and have quit cold turkey. This aided mostly by the running which I started helped to get my lungs going in the right direction. Awesome, here is a major component to mental and metaphysical well being that has worked great so far for me. Meditation. 20 minutes, 2 times per day. It has been like having a personal mentor inside of myself. I started a mediation log, where I am tracking useful thoughts as I am in a relaxed state of conscious. Smoking had a lot to do with my decision making process. It became the excuse to take a break, it was the reason for interaction, it became a major part of why I would or wouldn't do any particular thing in my life. I didn't really think about it while enjoying them one after another, which I did thoroughly. I will even admit I didn't necessarily want to quit when I did, that based on previous attempts at quitting. I also never had as much strength as I do now to mentally overcome. Smoking aside the meditation has been my mental stimulant and replacement as a habit. I felt so empowered today after completing my meditation on the lake. Patience has been a huge subject that has many of occasion passed me by, it felt as though I could internalize the concept this morning. Sitting on the rocks relaxing my mind & body many of the answers of my life present themselves in vivid color, and though I may wear glasses my mind's eye has 20/20 vision. I feel like I am setting my self up with good actions in order to lead my thoughts. One of the important quotes I associate with today is action & modification. Much like shoot, aim. The showing up in any of these things was the hardest part. I am glad that has been the truth, for me as well as anyone who reads this.
Besides the breathing, the running, there is also the cooking aspect of this. From scratch just like this writing. Finding the bulk section at Win-co Foods! Simply amazing. I have gotten to expand in the area of cooking in such a vast way I can't say that I was really a cook prior to the last 2 months. I have made multiple breads, and baked pastries for the first time in my life, just had to say that as I am speaking about health and pastries are generally loaded with sugar, but mine have been quite low on the sugar. But everything from soups with dumplings, to sea food pastas with shredded ginger and garlic. I have made more varieties in the dishes these last 2 months than I have ever. I wasn't a terrible cook that is to say before hand, and I would say my recipe repertoire was about 15 dishes total. I would say I am well into over 50 dishes that have been really, really good, not all due to me, and I have had a girlfriend to help with many of these dishes, but it's a much different style of cooking that goes on in the kitchen now. Our freezer is stocked with seeds and nuts, our cabinets have containers of flour, many seasonings and herbs. I used to cook with not so much as a look at a recipe book, and now I draw from about 4 major cooking references on a daily basis. Food has been a tremendous part of this lifestyle change. The food hands down has been the best I have made and many dishes have found a place as my favorites of all time, topping my family recipe's with ease.
I have become fascinated with foods and there ingredients lately. The list of important specific nutrients I have fallen in love with are, iron, vitamin A, C, Beta-carotene, proteins, omega's, pro-biotics, and fiber. That's not all, I am addicted to information on herbs and seeing there applications for culinary and medicinal use. Namely Mullein has been my friend as a healer of the lungs. This weekend I found the local health food store which carries herbs in bulk. Yippy! I felt like someone is trying to upgrade my food for me. It's amazing they have a wall full of goodies. One of my dreams is to open my own farm and be able to provide a CSA program of bio-intensive vegetables, herbs, fruits, grain's, and seed-bank. With so many nutritional options from cooking, to raw cooking, to juicing, and endless amounts of recipes and ingredient varieties I am more than happy about the fact that I have fallen in love with the entire concept of non-fast food.
Moving forward, is as easy as breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. I have been looking for a job lately. Back on the job hunt, and I am totally broke at this point in my life. But I also feel better than I have in a long time right now in my life, which puts me in the best situation I have ever been in for finding a suitable place for me to work and utilize my skills. I feel like the writing already explains what it is I have to do in my endeavor to find a job.
I hope this writing has been helpful, please leave me your comments, questions, or suggestions.
