The Summit of Life

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large—a feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences; you’re responsible for treating it. But... you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor.”
— Patrick Ness

Sunday, Funday, how are you? What are your plans?  We’re going to work around here, maybe set our 8-foot horse outside and welcome my friend Willie, his wife Mandy, and their two kids to our home for hot dogs and mac and cheese.  It’s about 6:00 a.m. the sunrise is cooking my face, PVHT is playing with some new balls, my Queen is slow asleep.

We worked around the house yesterday, then headed to Costco, ate at BW3’s, headed to pick up some packages from UPS, hit the grocery, stopped by to say hi to friends at BPT, and then arrived safely home.  We unloaded, and after putting everything away,  I saw a big fight on a PPV, so being that guy, I bought it.  I did not research this fight; I thought it was like an MMA or Professional boxing match.  I was wrong.

I was all excited, my Queen was cooking, I was sipping some red wine, the program started with Steve Erkle and Snoop Dog chatting about a business deal, and then Erkle gets out his new strain of cannabis. I’m not making this up. I guess the old Erkle nerd kid has grown up and now has a line of weed.  Snoop, who also has his brand, tried some of Steves and was pleased.  There is a poem there if you look.

Next up was the Black Keys; I was confused; this was a fight, correct?  But I like the Black Keys; they rocked it, and then Mario Lopez and the team showed up.  They had some legitimate fight veterans on; I thought, OK, here we go.  But no, more music by people I didn’t know.   Lip synced kid pop; I was confused.  But then a fight.  It was a boxer against a rapper, and guess who won?  The boxer beat the rapper; I think they went two rounds; it was like Michael Jordan playing basketball with a toddler.

I’ll summarize the rest of the night, music, fight, music, combat, Snoop and Erkle smoking weed, Mario trying to be professional, and the capstone fight a YouTuber beat an MMA guy in the first round.  I’m also a little bit of a gambler; I have a strategy; I called my bookie and put $10.00 on every underdog.  I’ve been doing this and usually win a few bucks.  My bookie sent me a text last night that I won $40.00.  Feel free to steal; it works almost every time on boxing and MMA bouts. In the end, the $59.99 I spent was worth it, but it was not what I expected.

My God, it is beautiful up here; the sunrise I’ve been watching since I started this soup is not a full-on sun blast show of snow, light, and a rining of our wind chime.  I’ll share a photo I shot when the sun was just starting to climb; I’m sitting at my kitchen island just watching something bigger than ourselves do his work.  If you don’t mind, since it’s Sunday, say a little prayer for Patrick. He’s on the mend but could use some positive thoughts.

My wife got some packages yesterday; we are going to a derby party on May 1; we got online and ordered our derby gear; we will look like derby people.  She also got her dress for our daughter’s wedding later this year.  She tried it on, I snapped a photo, and let me tell you, my wife is a beautiful human being.  I shared the photo on social media and woke up to my friends agreeing with the above statement; many said I over married and I’ll simply agree.

Our future son-in-law is kicking ass in Florida.  He will one day play in the bigs; right now, he’s mastering his trade in the minors, but no matter where he plays, we will fly, get a hot dog and cheer him on.  While at BW3’s, we watched his organization, the Tampa Bay Rays put it to the New York Yankees.  I’m not a baseball fan yet.  I told my Queen when Nick makes it; I’ll not miss a game.

I bought a nerf gun yesterday.  It shoots tennis balls 70 yards, PVHT and I will have some fun in the spring.  But she loves to tear the cover of the balls, she’s a destroyer of pet toys, and tennis balls are easy Pickens.  As I write these words, she’s ripping the skin off a ball.  In another context, that might be painful, but in this context, it means I’ll be picking up little yellow material all morning.

We ate Keto Bars last night; they are ice cream treats with little or no carbs.  I don’t know how they make them; I don’t care; they are delicious. I just noticed a little bit of chocolate on my shirt, a reminder of the evening snack.

You can find them at Costco, Target, and or Kroger; I strongly recommend a try.

Well, that’s me, that’s my life, how about yours, are you winning?  I think I’m winning; my kids are all kicking ass, my wife is stunning, I live on top of a mountain, I’ve got two companies that allow me to do anything I want every day.  I’m happy, and I usually hang out with happy people.  Life wasn’t always like this; I was anxious, angry, and had mental health issues. But over time, through therapy and some meds, I got my brain to fire on all cylinders.  If you are not living at 100%, get help, you can have a fantasy life.  It takes time, but I think everyone can make it to life’s summit.

I’ve thrived in this pandemic because I am where I need to be.  Mental health is a big issue that most don’t want to talk about, but just like physical health, it takes time to build up the strength to manage life.  I put in the work mentally; now, I need to focus on my physical attributes, which I will begin shortly. I’m in decent shape but not at my fighting weight.  I could not today join Snoop and Erkle for the main event.   Oh well, I know what I need to do, and I suspect you do as well; the question is will we do it?

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large—a feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences; you’re responsible for treating it. But... you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor.”
— Patrick Ness