Hello, my name is Mike, and I’m weak. Sure, I have gone from barely jogging 60 seconds to completing a 1/2 marathon and Olympic triathlon in less than a year, but it feels like this engine is overworked and needs a tune-up.
I’ve lost twenty pounds, can easily swim a half hour, bike for two, and run further than I ever dreamed, but flow, flexibility and clarity haven’t caught up. Tonight, I realized what was missing, and sometimes it’s as simple as buying into what you already know.
Strength, visualization, and music.
So, I expanded my chest with dumbells to the side, ready to change my world, and if my dog wasn’t licking my arm pits I might have gotten somewhere. I shook her off, then hit the floor for push ups like Bucky Badger after a string of Wisconsin touchdowns. A few curls, lunges, and the like but it all kinda hurt.
It was time for the mind.
I visualized lying back with a woman between my legs and looking in her eyes while effortlessly doing a sit up to kiss her lips. The problem was, I wobbled off the side of the big bouncy workout ball and nearly landed on my squealing dog, which totally ruined the moment.
But music never does.
I swear, I don’t know what gets into me, but I find myself locked on talk radio half the time. NPR, sports talk, morning funny guys, etc . . . and I am convinced that is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. Bombs in Beirut, endless speculation over what’s wrong with the Titans, tired fart jokes. Why do we get sucked into things that make us “feel” smart but don’t enhance our soul?
I dusted off a couple bombastic speakers, then took 15 minutes of my life to reconnect them to iTunes and two notes into U2’s “In A Little While” I was in tears. It was real, too. I was throwing around more weight than I had in months. My mind was lifted to a healthier place. Next it was the Raconteurs’ “Treat Me Like Your Mother,” and the ab workout was my bitch.
Well, you get the point. Strength, visualization, and music inspire and help us grow. Overworking the same muscle, closing your mind, and talk radio help us die.