I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch. I'm on to my second week of my second month of working out. My general back pain has decreased, thanks to the exercise, and to a supplement that was recommended by a friend. That being said, I still have to be careful of what I do, because it can be very easy to hurt my back (or my foot as the case was last week).

Yup, kilted. Because kilt is life.

 

For instance, this past Saturday, I attended a friend's wedding reception. There was some dancing. I mostly stayed out of the dancing, because even though my back was feeling OK, I did not want to injure it. I did do some dancing, and with a little convincing of my brother, I was able to leave when I could feel my back starting to give out.

Overall, I feel a lot better, and I've been able to keep to a decent schedule of waking up, doing my morning prayers, and then putting on the Lord of Spirits podcast to listen to while I workout. As long as I don't take a nap during the day, I usually get to sleep just fine, and I am able to get up on time without hitting the snooze button too many times. A long with my morning routine, I've been doing walks with my brother and our dogs in the evening. We also, last week, started doing shorter walks in the morning with the dogs.

Coupled with those walks, we've been taking the dogs to a nearby dog park where we can let them off the leash and run around. They really enjoy being set free, and meeting a lot of new friends. I hate having to always keep them on the leash, and the dog park is a safe place where we don't have to worry about them potentially running out into the street because they figured out how to open the doors.

I really wish sometimes that I had the energy our dogs have. I remember last year my brother and I hiked up a mountain. It was about 6 miles round trip, but the first and last parts were very steep. It was quite exhausting. By the time we got home, both my brother and I were out for the count - and it appeared so was our dog. But after maybe two hours, our dog was ready to run around the neighborhood again. Typically, he'll rest for about 15 minutes or so after our walks before he's bouncing off the walls again, so you know he was exhausted, too.

I am proud that I have been able to stick with this routine for as long as I have. I have not been this active since my second deployment. And again, I'm not trying to count my chickens before they hatch - I know that I still have a long way to go to get to where I need to be and where I want to be. Exercising seems to be a mindset that one has to have to be able to achieve anything, and to just keep doing it. I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I am tired of being in constant pain and just lying in bed trying to get some relief.

I know that I probably started this much too late in life than I should have to ensure that my back did not degenerate to this point. But I am here now, and I really do not want to go back to being the sad sack who just sits around all day. I'm still a sad sack, and I still sit around for the majority of the day, but I at least get up and get moving first thing. Also, these blog posts don't write themselves; I have to sit around doing research for many of them, and I do have to sit around to type them up.

I know that this doesn't sound like a whole lot, but for me this is quite the achievement - especially from how I was before. Will this last? Will I be slapped down with another depressive episode? I don't know. I hope not. I hope I can find the strength to keep going through anything - even injury. If I get injured in some way, I'll find other alternative exercises to do and build myself back up.

So, I'm proud of myself thus far. And even if I were to stop today and do no more (I won't), I'd still be proud for having set this personal record. And, I have a record to beat, now. Every day I keep going is a new record to beat.

Please pray for me, a sinner.