If you know me pretty well you know that I consume a lot of Diet Pepsi...or at least I used to. I gave it up on Friday for good, and I'm happy about that decision. It's tough, because I relied on it for my morning boost...and then my afternoon boost...and then again later on in the evening boost. I was a slave to this beverage and it was doing terrible things to my body.
Long story short, I've been seeing a chiropractor for the last 3 weeks or so. He was originally a bio-chemist and worked as one for 10 years before going back to school to become a chiropractor. So, I learn a lot at every visit about how the body works; enzymes, glands, the central nervous system, and how it all works together to intelligently heal the body. Well, when you're pumping toxins and chemicals into your body, all of these systems are working to rid you of the chemicals instead of dealing with other issues that it normally would be dealing with.
I was the drum major of a drum and bugle corps for 10 years. I guess you could say that I was a "violent" conductor; very emotional, very passionate, and very rough on my body. Over time, I injured my left shoulder pretty bad, and the muscles in my back had to compensate for the fact that most of my shoulder muscles aren't doing anything...ANYTHING at all, because they're injured. Well, the straighter my back is getting now (and it was bad) the muscles have stopped compensating and are back to doing what they normally would do. So, the further we get along in my treatment, the worse my shoulder is getting because now it has to work on its own and it can't.
The adrenal gland is supposed to help heal things like this by lubricating the joint and whatnot. Unfortunately, most of my glands and organs have been dealing with the onslaught of chemicals that I've been shoving down my food hole. So, I have compromised my body's ability to heal me and keep me well all because I like my bubbles and need a little jolt in the morning to get going. Stupid. I'm giving up long term wellness for a short term fix. I am flat out addicted to the stuff, and it has to stop.
As I sit here typing this now, I am 3 full days into my soda free life. I'm getting headaches and I feel terrible, but I'm totally buying into the concept that my body will do what it was designed to do if I stop killing it with all the crap I'm constantly eating and drinking. My shoulder feels like hell. Maybe I'll need a doctor to go in there and fix it...but I'd rather give my body a shot to do it on its own first. Just seems like common sense to me.
I'm going through a lot right now. There's a lot on my mind. I've made a lot of big decisions in the last few months and I'm starting to trust myself. I'm seeing things a bit clearer than I used to. I feel like I'm on the cusp of something...that something is going to break my way, and I want to make sure that I'm focused and clear-headed enough to recognize it when it does. I also want to be able to identify the things and people in my life that I really don't need. Like soda can keep my body from doing what it should by making it focus on getting rid of all the chemicals, I feel like I have some outside influences that are keeping me from really achieving my true potential. Also like soda, I am the one who chose to include it in my life. I am the one who is responsible for bringing these people and things into my life and allowing myself to get distracted. I can also decide to exclude them...just like soda.
I'm really trying to see the big picture and not get sucked into my own ego-centric universe. I'm trying to grow and make major changes in the way that I live, the way I deal with money, what I eat, what I want to do for a living. I'm trying to rediscover who I really am. How I currently act and think, I believe, is contrary in a lot of ways to who I really am. I'm working against myself. I'm my own worst enemy and always have been. I know I could do anything I wanted to do, as corny as that sounds. I've just become a slave to all of these external influences: soda, money, etc.
In the words of Joe Hood, "Man...I gotta get my shit together." I'm working on it, Joe. I'm working on it.
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