All Things Coming Together

The wonderful celebration came to an end and in a flash with many members helping out the room was cleaned in no time. We had time limit on how long we could be in the room and had to be out in time for another 12 step group meeting. I was a bit concerned we would be out in time but the people who led the meeting did a great job ending the meeting on time. Our group does have a tendency to have long meetings and it isn’t surprising when a meeting goes 2 hours with only a handful in attendance. This is why it was almost remarkable to get through 52 people in 2 hours without any problems. It is part of the fellowship to help out in the meetings and this was evident in the beginning and ends of the meeting last night as many people brought food and did help in cleaning up as the meeting ended.

I made my way home after the meeting and spoke with my sponsor on the way home. My sponsor has been an integral member of our special Gamblers Anonymous group through the years and even though my sponsor no longer resides in the area his name was mentioned several times during the meeting last night. I continue to learn so much from my sponsor and he certainly has left a legacy in this area. It is always good to speak with my sponsor and because life moves so quickly we don’t speak as much as we did in the past. I do my best to make it a point to speak with him on a weekly basis but there are some weeks that go by where we don’t connect. Thankfully we connected last night and I do owe my sponsor so much as he continues to teach me the way to live life with a positive purpose through recovery.

The rest of the night went by quickly and before I realized it I was waking up to start the work week. This would be my first full week in the office and started like I ended last week as I woke up before the dawn and made my way to the gym. I have come up with a plan in running another marathon and I am putting the triathlon on the back burner. All of this is dependent on the baseball and softball schedules but if I can I would like to run that local marathon at the end of April followed by the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon one month later.

This is the most aggressive plan I have come up with ever and hopefully all goes well I will qualify for that Boston Marathon. Today was day number one of the official training program and I have scaled back my intensity for this particular marathon. I need to make some adjustments to my training program and my deficiency is in the very late stages of the 26.2 miles. I seem to fade at the same rate no matter how fast or slow I run the first 23 miles. It is those last 3 miles I need to concentrate on and this does come with training. Hopefully I can make the necessary adjustments and complete my goal in the next few months.

I had a very good workout in the morning and yes, the same faces are still in the gym. I have been going to this gym since 2001 and there aren’t many new faces since then. I did have a 19 month “hiatus” but those folks are still there and this is what I would call consistent. I found out that my current membership expires on March 14th and I am seriously considering switching gyms. I do want to start training for triathlons and this would require me attending another gym. I do have a very inexpensive renewal rate but I think it is time to move on. I am very comfortable with my current gym but I do need to step out of my comfort zone and I will move on. I only hope that I can obtain a reasonable rate when I do join the new gym.

I made my way into the office and it was quite a day. The person I am replacing was kind enough to come in and show me where things were in spite of having lost their job on Friday. This could have been very awkward but it wasn’t. This person took it very well and like most things in life did happen for a reason. This person is going back to school and the layoff did fit into their plans. There didn’t appear to be any ill feelings on their part and I certainly had no ill feelings as well. The morning was filled with how the operation function and I quickly understood I have a great deal of work ahead of me. It is so interesting how everything works out and full circle does come to mind as I approach one year after being released. Life is indeed incredible!!