A couple of years ago, I decided to give up cigars. The hardest part about quitting is that when there is idle time, you tend to revert back to old habits. To combat this, I started walking. I would get home from work, put on some comfortable clothes, and head out the door. Sometimes I would walk for half an hour. Sometimes the urge was so strong, I would walk for hours. I plowed forward.
After a month or so of this, I got real sick of my neighborhood, so I decided to mix things up. I started hiking in the mountain preserves around Phoenix. Hiking wasn’t a conscious decision so much as it was a desire to get a change of scenery. My half hour walks turned into two to four hour hikes. I was hooked.
Over time, I discovered that one of my best friends was also a regular hiker, so we started doing regular hikes together. Nicole has been hiking pretty much forever, so she knew all the cool places around town. And she is an athlete. At times, I found myself almost jogging to keep up with her. Not only did I give up cigars, but I was getting into shape without even realizing it.
Then I did something really stupid about a year ago. I resumed my cigar habit. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And I am sure that if I had been walking by myself, I would have used cigars as an excuse to stop hiking. But I guess part of the reason we have friends is that they inspire us, so I plowed forward and kept hiking anyway.
Last week, while on a Thursday morning hike, Nicole sprained her ankle. It looked like someone inserted a golf ball in place of where her ankle was supposed to be.
On Saturday, it was Nicole’s turn to lead our company’s hiking group on it’s monthly hike. Now most people would have backed out. A sprained ankle is not something most people can just walk off. Then again, that wouldn’t be like Nicole. She not only led the hike, but was a bit upset about having problems keeping up with Tyler (I think I overheard Tyler’s wife Debbie say that he runs two and half miles in twelve minutes--not bad). Nicole stayed at the front the whole way. I guess some people make a regular habit of finding excuses and others just deal with adversity and plow forward. The latter tend to inspire.
I will plow forward, too. It may take me awhile, but I think I will get this cigar thing figured out.
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5 comments:
i'm not a big smoker but i do enjoy the occasional fine cigar. not quite sure why you think the cigar thing is so bad. i'm assuming you aren't smoking 6 a day though. i would think it not nearly as bad as cigarettes, seems more natural to me, less chemical and all. is it because it is bad for you or because everyone says its a bad habit? i say, smoke on dude.
in other news, i coached t-ball this year, my middle daughter wanted to play. we have a pretty regular game in our rock covered front yard so she enjoys baseball and seemed to want to take the next step. she is actually pretty good, she at least knows how to hit and what to do.
everyone should coach a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds or spend a day in kindergarten. it's a bit like herding cats. everyone wants to play pitcher or first base, as that is where all the action is. someone is always whining or crying because the ball isn't coming to them. it's a lot like work actually. maybe all we really did need to know we did learn in kindergarten. actually it was lots of fun. practices more so than games. if i was in charge there would be one game a week and lots of practices. in practice at least you can keep them busy, attention spans don't wander so much. anyway if you ever have the opportunity, give it a try. i keep wondering if that is what i was like when i was 5. i must have been but have a hard time believing it.
I coached Katelyn's t-ball team last summer. As a pretty much non-athlete, I was a little worried about knowing all the rules, etc. However, come to find out and this gets to Kevin's point -- it doesn't matter! The ones who understand the game want to be the pitcher, the first baser, etc. The ones who don't, couldn't care less to learn and spend their time picking grass in the outfield or making clouds of dust and dirt in the infield. It was like a field full of little "Pig Pens." I did enjoy it however and so did Katelyn. Not enough to take up the sport on her own though and she said she wouldn't play this year unless I coached. We decided to have a more laid-back summer, so skipped the ball and are concentrating more on the pool and swimming.
Kids.... gotta love 'em.
Oh, and cigars, too, Dane -- you're too hard on yourself. If you can smoke cigars and still keep up the walking, then I say do both!!!!
Dane:
We had school, K-12 and College.
We had canoe trips.
We had sports.
We had DL, GF and TRF road trips.
We had Buzz's Beach Bash.
We had countless stories.
We had countless parties.
We had Meister Brau, Groulsch and Mash.
We had habits good and bad that rewarded us with years of countless laughs.
Don't quit cigars now.
I don't want another "had".
Actually, I see it quite differently, I guess. I always like to say that even though I am extremely sentimental, I am not all that nostelgic. I don't think a lot about "hads". I honestly believe the best days are before me, not behind...
Besides, I can do a lot more when not smoking. Unlike Clinton, I inhale. The damage is hindering the future mountains I can climb...
But don't worry. I am not going to give up the drink. That just wouldn't be right.
I like an occasional cigar, too, but I don't inhale - just puff. Ususally it is when I'm drinking, adding to my inevitable hangover, or when I'm ice fishing. Nothing like a hot toddie and a cigar on the ice. Oh, well.
I gave up cigarette smoking about 16 years ago. I don't regret it, but I still miss it like mad sometimes. At that time, my doctor told me that the human body can naturally clean out three filtered cigarettes a day. So, I would think that, similarly, the human body can filter out one cigar a day. That must be just about the same, right?
I enjoy thinking about the "old days" - the "hads" so to speak - in both high school and college. I know for sure that I don't want to go back and actually relive those times. Remembering is good enough for me. I sure don't want to be that age again. You couldn't pay me enough to go back. But, I do like to remember, laugh, and, sometimes, cry.
I know that some of my most endearing moments were during those years, and I'm confident that there will be more of those moments in the future. It is just that now, I get to move forward with a little bit of knowledge, even more wisdom, and the satisfaction in knowing that sometimes both knowledge and wisdom need to be tossed right out the window in order to live a real life.
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