A Positive "Swing"

Alright I am still working on the doing something “completely different” aspect in my life. Yesterday wasn’t anything out of the order but I do feel so much better as I process through a bit of the malaise. The only thing “different” done by me yesterday was not working out. I was much too tired in the morning because I went to sleep much too late the night before so my body needed more rest. I planned on working out last night but stayed at the office much later then usual finishing up a few items. I also talked with a good friend and this good friend is also my one and only Gamblers Anonymous “sponsoree”. I do believe we make a good match because we fill each other needs in a wide range of things. My sponsoree has a tendency to go off the deep end where I am much calmer. Hopefully I am helping in anyway I can because that is what sponsorship is all about.

My sponsor continues to assist me all the time even though we don’t even reside in the same state anymore. I think I have a few surrogate sponsors over these past three years and I pick up many things from these dear friends. Most of these dear friends have considerable “time” in GA and it is obvious why they have this considerable time. They seem to understand the program and understand what it takes to recover from a baffling insidious addiction. I am grateful to all of these people and I am grateful to my sponsoree because I continue to learn things from him as well.

It is truly amazing how some people react to certain situations and I am convinced if I lined up 10 different people and posed the same scenario to all 10 of them I would receive 10 different responses. This could be troublesome but I find it fascinating because of those 10 responses none of them would be considered incorrect and the problem could very well be rectified. Diversity does make the world go round and I learn from this diversity on a continuing basis. I know inside my head rests a powerful tool but it is not the only way to learn. I can do many things but when I start to think I can do everything I must check my ego at the door. I know I am not all knowing and all powerful and having dear friends in my life does keep me in check. My life is truly magnificent and I owe it all to recovery.

The long day ended and I headed home for the evening. I wasn’t very hungry as I was still full from the late and very filling lunch with my good friend. I snacked on a few items prior to falling asleep. I was up early this morning and on my way to the gym since I didn’t workout yesterday. I really didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning but convinced myself to get my feet moving. Once I got my feet moving I was up for the day and off to the gym. I decided to change my running this morning and instead of going for an hour run I thought I would be suited for a high intensity much shorter run. I had read something in one of the Running Journals that high intensity short runs actually help more then longer runs with lesser intensity so I decided to try it out today. I certainly ran much less time wise then usual but I completed over 3 miles in only 20 minutes which is moving quite fast for me. This seemed to work very well and I will incorporate this in my workout at least once a week.

The workout was over and I headed to the office but not really to work since it was Friday. Since it was Friday this meant a golf day in spite of the temperature reaching 110 degrees!! Yes, you read that correctly the temperature was actually over 110 degrees today but it really is a “dry” heat (again so is an oven!!) and much less oppressive then a 90 degree temperature with a 100% humidity reading on the East Coast. I will take the 110 degrees any day over the humid days back East. Today my boss and I golfed together for the first time in awhile and we practiced fiscal responsibility which was very nice for a change.

We played one of the nicer courses in the area and because of the heat the green fees were well reduced otherwise we wouldn’t have played there. I really don’t mind the heat and being in fairly good shape does help. My boss was having a hard time dealing with the heat by the 12th hole and slowly started to fade. We are very comparable golfers and we were so comparable we shot the same score through the first 9 holes. However; as my boss faded so did his score. I remained somewhat consistent only have one bad hole the entire round whereas my boss had a few bad holes. I ended up shooting much better then my boss only because the heat seemed to get to him.

In spite of the heat it was a wonderful day on the links. My game is now at a point where I am much more consistent then one I first came back to the game a few months ago. I have a great deal of room for improvement but I am not about to dedicate the time needed to get to the next level. I am very happy being a “bogey golfer” which means I shoot in the high 80’s to low 90’s. It took me a long time to finally break 90 and I have yet to break 80 and really don’t expect to do so anytime soon. It would be great if I did but I am very content with my game at this point.

I have no aspirations of being on the professional tour and all I care about is having a good time. I did have a “weak” moment where I threw my golf club in disgust as I just “hacked” a shot for a very good position. I quickly checked myself and hit a much better shot from the same position on the very next hole. Yes, I had a wonderful day and my “down” mood has progressed into a very “up” mood, oh the swings of life and fortunately most of my “swings” are on the positive side.