How Sports & Fitness Influenced My Life Choices
First, I want to preface this post by stating that this is based on my personal experiences. However, I do believe that staying active can positively impact your life, along with the daily decisions you make.
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus flower, but does not wet its petals.” ~Buddha
Throughout my K-12 educational career, my life outside of school revolved around sports. I played soccer in the fall and tennis in the spring. During summer vacation, I would either be at a soccer or tennis training camp. I enjoyed the outdoors, and would much rather be running around kicking a ball, than staying inside and playing video games.
Junior year of high school was the first year I have ever missed a season of soccer and tennis. Ironically, it was also the year I picked up smoking and drinking as well. During the summer going into junior year, I found an interest in break-dancing through a mutual friend. I knew that dance practice would conflict with the upcoming soccer season, so I made a decision to miss soccer that year in order to hone my dancing skills.
I met some really nice people at the local hip-hop studio I went to, but it was also where I smoked my first cigarette. A lot of the dancers smoked, and me being the impressionable, naive teenager, thought it was the “cool” thing to do. I should mention that most of these dancers were older, so it wasn’t like I was hanging around a bunch of underage smokers. Fast forward to the end of junior year, and I was a full-on smoker who ended up missing the tennis season as well.
On top of smoking cigarettes, I added alcohol and weed into the equation. That following summer, I became as unmotivated and lazy as I could get, with my part-time job as a barista being the only reason to leave the house. After work, since I didn’t participate in any athletic activities, I would just smoke weed, play games, and drink once it was night time. It was my most unproductive summer yet, but I was loving every moment of it.
Surprisingly, I decided to play soccer again in the fall, as it was my senior year, and I wanted to earn a Varsity letter before I graduated. I have to say, missing a whole year of soccer while smoking daily had taken its toll on me. In hindsight, it’s pretty silly to think I would be at my peak state of athleticism, but I did not expect to be so winded after running 2 miles on the track during tryouts.
Needless to say, that was a big wake-up call for me, but at that point, it was hard for me to quit smoking entirely. It definitely didn’t get any better once I entered university and began living on my own for the first time in my life. I cut sports out completely, as smoking weed and playing games with my friends sounded much more appealing than running and sweating unnecessarily. To this day, that mindset that I previously had still makes me cringe, and I can’t believe I had turned into such a couch potato.
I ended up leaving that university as my grades weren’t holding up, and attended a local community college to start fresh. This was when I slowly found my passion for staying active again through lifting weights. I first started working out for the obvious reason of trying to impress the ladies, but at least that reason got me off my butt and into the gym on a daily basis.
I started to become more and more serious about hitting the gym, and that motivated me to make some drastic changes to my current lifestyle. I quit smoking cigarettes (almost cold turkey!), while having an occasional smoke when I was out drinking with friends. I also drank a lot less, which was killing two birds with one stone, as my liver praised for joy while my wallet stayed healthy. I began to make some health-conscious changes to my diet, going from burgers and Korean Ramen to lean chicken breast and brown rice.
“Humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time. On the other hand, if you force yourself to push through it, the grit begins to grow in you.” ~Travis Bradberry
Whether it was the placebo effect or not, I was feeling a lot better about myself, both physically and mentally. I was finally getting back into shape, and wasn’t gasping for air after 10 minutes of constant activity. I hated myself for getting so carried away over the years, but I have to admit, the feeling of getting back on track was a reward in itself. My self-confidence gradually grew over the years, and as cliche as it sounds, I learned the value of patience and consistency through lifting weights. It taught me that results do not occur overnight, and that it takes a lot of time and energy to work towards your goals.
As of today, I have not touched a cigarette in over 2 years and limit myself to one night of drinking per month. It’s no longer because I am forcing myself to, but because I want to. They say it takes about 2-3 months to form a habit, and there is nothing better than incorporating a healthy lifestyle into your daily routine. Whatever your goals and aspirations may be, it is most important that you can stay healthy mentally and physically, so that you may be able to achieve your dreams.
