Tag: alcoholics

I Planned, Fate Laughed

Somewhere around 593 days of alcohol free (late February 2018) and in my 51st week of training for 5k’s I developed a soreness in my knee.

Naturally, I had been pushing myself to try and get a decent time for the last 5k to complete the ‘5K a Month’ for a Year challenge. I had also taken it for granted it was in the bag and had already begun thinking of goals immediately beyond that, like a 10K and a half marathon and dreams of a marathon in the next year.

Unfortunately, I believe I over trained. So for the final run of the year, I intentionally cut Continue reading “I Planned, Fate Laughed”

Kaizen – I did that!?

I’ve been working incrementally on me.

And without realizing it, I was doing something that has a cool name like Kaizen.

I’ve been working incrementally on me.

And without realizing it, I was doing something that has a cool name like Kaizen.

What is Kaizen? The best explanation comes out of an episode by the Art of Manliness hosted by Brett Baxter and his guest, Robert Maurer called “The Kaizen Method — Get 1% Better Each Day”

Basically Kaizen is a form of continuous improvement in an incremental fashion. Originally brought to public attention through corporate culture to improve Japanese manufacturing after World War II, the podcast discusses how it can be applied individually.

How does it relate to my situation? Because all of the personal changes small and large, have come about in a very incremental way. I would identify one thing that I didn’t like and set about to address that one thing.  Continue reading “Kaizen – I did that!?”

Sleep

July 6th was day 186 of 2016. That was my first full day on this sober journey.

The weekend leading up to that day, was around the pool, munchies, hanging with family and inactivity (other than yardwork) and a number of beers.

The wife had declared that she was quitting alcohol a few weeks before the fourth of July. I’d been curbing my intake for a while and experienced some minor improvements, mostly corrections to some self inflicted issues (more on that later), so I said I would join her after the holiday weekend. Continue reading “Sleep”

Alcohol – In the beginning

I grew up in the shadow of a family that drank. Some died as alcoholics. Some debilitated from the long term effects of alcohol.

My own relationship with alcohol? I was first introduced to alcohol when I was eight or nine. My dad would be sitting on the throne of his recliner and, like any child that looks up to their dad as larger than life, I asked for a sip of his beer. Continue reading “Alcohol – In the beginning”

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