As if I needed another reason to stay clean and sober.....I have some health issues that I've ignored for a long time, that I have to stop ignoring. And actually address. Unless I want to die young, or have a miserable disease-ridden rest of my life.
I've spent most of my adult life not really caring whether I lived or died, and sure did my damnedest to self-destruct. Turns out that ingesting large amounts of illegal chemicals and alcohol do quite the number on the internal organs. Who knew? Ha. I mean when you're young and indestructible (another ha) the warnings of "you're going to kill your liver" fall on deaf ears.
Now that I've (miraculously) made it to the age of 41, relatively intact, topics of health that used to not concern me are now occupying my thoughts. Cholesterol? Triglycerides? Heart disease? Liver damage? I actually have to think about this stuff now? And do something about it? Fuck.
Part of something I've struggled with in sobriety is a loss of identity. It's warped, but my whole identity, for so long, has been wrapped up in the fact that I'm a drug addict. Without the drugs, who the fuck am I? What is the point of me? Why should I care?
I guess where I'm going with this, is that I have to start caring about myself enough to want to take care of myself better. And there's a part of me that is really fighting that. It's stupid, but it's almost like the straw that broke the camel's back......"I quit using drugs, and NOW you want me to eat healthier and exercise? That's going too far man, too far."
Even though I know I'll feel better if I do it....maybe that's part of the resistance. Part of me doesn't want to feel better, because if I feel better, then I have to admit that it's possible to feel good without drugs. Fucking brain.
