Making your bed, and running a half marathon

I wanted to write a blog about the Cleveland Guardians and how remarkable their run has been this season. I mean winning the division as the youngest team in baseball, with one of the lowest payrolls in the sport, when many media outlets had you winning less than 75 games this year is incredible. It has been such a special season, but I feel like it has been covered in every way imaginable.

FanGraphs had the @CleGuardians <50% to win their division only 15 days ago!

100% chance you don't want to face them right now. https://t.co/IJbrR2Fhrt

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 26, 2022

 

Not only that but I believe in this team, and winning the division is just the beginning. 

All day I tried to think about how I can put a creative and funny spin on what the Guardians have accomplished thus far, and everything I was coming up with felt forced. So instead I wanted to open up on a bit of a personal accomplishment that I achieved this past weekend. I ran in my first half marathon!

In order to fully paint the picture of this accomplishment I think I need to provide some background. From 2008 to 2018 I chewed tobacco. I LOVED chewing tobacco, especially for the first few years. There was something about packing a huge lip, kicking back, and relaxing. Or if I would be in the car for a long road trip, chewing would get me through the drive. I would think to myself "okay 30 minutes with chew in my mouth, spit it out, take a 30 minute break, then 30 more minutes with a chew in...dang we're already an hour and a half into this drive!" You just do that a few times and you can knock out long car rides no problem. 

I started chewing regularly my senior year of high school. I remember the first time I chewed I got a buzz unlike anything I had before. By the time I was a senior in high school I had already drank a handful of times and I had smoked weed as well, but nicotine was a new drug for me, and it was one I latched onto quickly. Pretty soon after I started chewing the buzzes wore off.  I distinctly remember the second time I chewed the buzz was probably half as strong as it was the first time, and eventually the buzz was gone altogether. But I still loved the ritual of chewing. I loved having something in my lip that I could spit out. I know how gross that sounds but that was a big part of the addiction for me, just the act of spitting. I also used to bite my finger nails from the time I was a child until 2018, and perhaps the act of spitting out my nails is what caused me to latch onto spitting out tobacco. 

Regardless, I was addicted to chewing. I was in college and a lot of guys I lived with and was friends with also chewed, so I didn't put much thought into this habit. Girls I dated definitely hated the fact I chewed, and that was kind of what put the addiction into perspective for me. I realized even though this was a point of contention in my relationships, I was still chewing, not because I wanted to cause a fight, but because I felt I had to chew. Around 2013 is when I decided that I was going to quit chewing, but boy, was that easier said than done. 

For the next five years I would go through periods of quitting, maybe even as much as a month nicotine free. But I always found my way back. I would end up going out and drinking, then swinging by the gas station and picking up a can. Then for the next week or so I would tell myself "well you cracked this past weekend, so what is the point of quitting today when you already have a can you might as well finish it." And then somehow that justification would turn into me justifying buying a new can altogether. Then I would find it in me to quit temporarily until the next time I found myself back in this cycle. 

Chewing was not my only vice but it was the one I was most strongly addicted to. I have also struggled with drinking most of my adult life and not to make excuses but when I was drinking my inhibition disappeared. I would regularly return to chewing when I had been drinking, which sadly, was pretty often. I could write a whole blog about my relationship and struggle with drinking as well, but for now I want to focus on chewing. 

Finally on September 22nd of 2018 I chewed for the last time. 

I remember those first few months, honestly that first year, where it was a conscious effort to quit. Every day I would wake up and tell myself "you are not going to chew today." It was a decision I had to make, constantly, throughout the day. 

There is a video I saw around this time from a commencement speech at the University of Texas where Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the crowd encouraging them to make their bed every morning. 

Navy Seal Admiral McRaven Shares Reasons to Make Your Bed Every Day. #TuesdayMotivation pic.twitter.com/1e5QKmd6Q6

— Wasanga Mehana (@Wasanga_Mayhem) April 23, 2019

The part of this speech that stuck with me was how one small accomplishment can help lead to other accomplishments. How making your bed is the first challenge before you every morning, and if you can accomplish that, then you are setting yourself up for success that day. You have accomplished your very first challenge. That stuck with me. I thought to myself "okay...challenge number one: make your bed...challenge number two: quit chewing." Challenge number two was substantially harder than challenge number one, but by accomplishing that first challenge I was setting myself up for success on that second challenge. 

I applied this mentality every morning, and I know different things work for different people, but for some reason this worked for me. I was able to take the logic "challenge number one: make your bed...challenge number two: quit chewing" and apply it. Eventually six months passed and I was nicotine free! At this time I remember thinking "well you have accomplished something very difficult here, so what's the next challenge?" That's when I started working out. I was in pretty bad shape at this point in my life, I weighed nearly 250lbs, my diet was terrible, and I almost never exercised at least not with any sort of routine or regularity. 

I started slow. I would go to the gym one day a week for one hour. Typically I would just use some of the elliptical equipment or the stationary bike. I did this for an entire month. Just one day a week for one hour for a full month. From there I extended it to two days a week. Then the following month, three days a week. I kept at this until I was going to the gym six days a week. And I wasn't just using the elliptical equipment, I started lifting weights. I would focus on all areas of my body steadily improving myself. Bit by bit I started to feel healthier and more confident in myself and always in the back of my mind I would think "sure, going to the gym six days a week and lifting is hard, but it isn't harder than quitting chewing, and you did that so you can do this." 

Eventually a couple years pass, I am still going to the gym four to six times a week. I am introducing more and more healthy lifestyle changes until I eventually decide to train for a half marathon. My wife ran cross country in high school and she had recently ran a half marathon, so I decided I would use her motivation and expertise to get myself to a point where I can run in this race. I am not a very strong runner, training for this was definitely a challenge for me, but again, I reminded myself, as hard as this is it isn't as hard as quitting chewing. 

I ran my first half marathon on September 24th 2022 just over four years after I quit chewing. I am an emotional guy, and as I was running in this race I felt the emotions. I thought back to who I was four or more years ago, I thought about the journey I put myself through to get to this point. I thought about how many times I made my bed, and how many smaller accomplishments led me to this challenge. And I thought to myself, at various points throughout the race, when I was feeling tired, or struggled to continue, I would think...this is hard...but it isn't "quitting chewing" hard. 

Anytime I am asked what my proudest accomplishment is I will always say quitting chewing. It was something that felt impossible for me to accomplish but I was able to do it. Not only that but it helped lead me down a path toward a healthier lifestyle. It helped me approach every new challenge with confidence and a can-do attitude. 

None of this is to suggest that my addiction was more difficult to overcome than anyone else's addiction. I am also not at all suggesting "I did it, so you can too!" I know that everyone's struggles are unique, and what is challenging for one person may be very easy for another. Conversely, something that is very difficult for one person may be even more difficult for another. None of us are the same and I understand that my journey is personal, not the standard. 

I think it is important for us to be proud of ourselves. Too often accomplishments will be minimized or we will be held to the standards of others causing us to not take pride in the things we have accomplished whether they are big or small.

The morning of the half marathon I made my bed, and I thought to myself "okay...challenge number one: make the bed...challenge number two: run a half marathon." 

Here's to making your bed, and accomplishing things you otherwise thought were impossible!

Good luck in your journey! And to circle back to the top of the blog...Go Guardians!

-BG