spontaneous day off

I feel a little guilty for having such an awesome workout on a day when I went home from work sick. What can I say? A soft couch and a cup of tea have healing powers that tylenol will never harness.

I can see that my main obstacle in training for parkour is going to be working around all the kids who wanna be able to do what I do. It's very cute, but also carries some responsibility and also inconvenience. I don't want kids to get hurt because they don't understand the limits of their bodies, but let's face it, every kid knows that jumping is just too much damn fun. And once they've caught on, where will I train then? My current favorite training spot was crawling with kids after only a few minutes of working out. I'm glad they're interested in getting a little outdoor activity in their lives. I hope I can inspire them to develop more than just a passing interest. Kids in my neighborhood are overwhelmingly fat. Too much KD, not enough actual food.

By the time I got home my legs felt weak. In the last couple days I've learned a couple things, and I've started doing my rolls on the grass. They're coming along nicely. I'm very pleased. Tomorrow night is gymnastics night, when my friend the gymnastics coach lets me in after closing, and we do whatever we want for two hours. Last time she taught me a front flip, gave me some rolling tips, and helped me figure out some weird wall spinny thing I keep seeing in videos. It's much harder than it looks. Tomorrow I guess I'll keep working on all of the above, and hope to see some progress.

All that is to say (for those of you who have no interest in my training regimen or obscure european sports) that it feels really good to set achievable goals, and then go about achieving them. I am realizing that I am capable of doing the things that I set my mind to learning, as long as I am willing to do the work. And I am learning that my problem was never that I was too lazy to do the work, but that I lacked motivation. There wasn't anything I wanted badly enough to do over and over and over until I got it right, and then some more until I could do it without even thinking. I'm learning about the connection between real limitations and mental limitations, how one affects the other, how some limitations never existed in the first place.

I always thought that wisdom and understanding were matters of mind and spirit, but I'm seeing a whole new realm of learning that can only be found with a balance of all three, body, soul and spirit. It is very motivating. And it is having a positive effect on my diet. Lately I choose spinach or strawberries, instead of beer and pizza. Not because it's better for me, but because I would really rather have spinach or strawberries. I like the way I feel when I eat them.

But I also still like chocolate.

On friday I was hanging out with the geek squad, getting ready for some D&D, when one of the guys had a diabetic spazz. I guess they call it insulin shock?? He was low in blood sugar. He began to thrash his head and writhe on the couch, constantly trying to pull it together but clearly unable. One of the other guys tried to get his blood tester out and figure out how to use it, but he just couldn't communicate. Every once in a while he would throw me a look, with a big grin on his face. I knew that he was embarrassed, that he was trying to make light of things, but there was something wild and out of control in those eyes. I felt both concern and fear, but I smiled at him, like I wasn't worried, while jeff threatened to carry the guy to the car and drive him to the hospital.

Finally he managed to get it out that he had a chocolate bar in his jacket, and when jeff got it unwrapped, he reached for it like a drowning man for a buoy, and wolfed it down like a starving dog. Within one minute he was sitting up and talking to us like nothing had happened.

That was a strange experience for me. The first of it's kind, actually. It affected me in a way I haven't quite figured out yet. I'm very thankful for my health. I certainly don't deserve it.

Well, I've got a few more things to do before bed, so I better get on that. Nighty-night, kids.