Kicking Anxiety in the Jimmies…

I have been dealing with my left shoulder causing me all kinds of issues last week. Throbbing, hurting, causing my muscles to get all out of whack, radiating discomfort through my chest and back, and on and on the list goes. I saw the chiropractor twice last week in hopes of him doing something to bring some relief (he did), changed the way I sleep (I sleep on my side, trying to sleep on my back), and been doing so much stretching that you might mistake me for Gumby or Stretch Armstrong (I really should start doing yoga).

This pain causes my anxieties to kick in, which in turn just shuts me down (let me add, my anxiety is very specific to having a heart attack). It makes me afraid to do anything exerting. I start thinking what happens if I am out on a walk or run and something happens? What if I am riding my bike and..  yeah, for brevity and my own sanity, I’m just going to move on.

But yesterday, my ‘live life’ button got smooshed down pretty hard and I got fed up with letting this control me. In short, I had had enough.

So, after I got home from church, I decided that I was going to do something I love to do. Go for a bike ride. I don’t know why, but there is something exhilarating about being on a bike and just going. Peddling and feeling the wind in your face, the burn in your legs, the bugs in your teeth.. ok, not that last part, but if you ride, you understand.

I got changed (into shorts even), grabbed my camel-back, got my bike and decided I was just going to ride. Nothing crazy. No breaking any speed barriers or time records. Just me, my bike and where ever.

All told, I rode just over 12 miles in an hour. I was a bit worn out, sweaty, and overall just felt great. The anxiety and pain are still there, however in choosing to take the ride regardless of what happened put me back in the power seat.

Oh, I also entered my first official writing contest (not that the fine people over at YeahWrite or Grammar Ghoul aren’t official) with an over 800 word story that I wrote in just over an hour and a half, but after the bike ride, I ended up writing an over 900 word story that I am not so sure is done yet but if you want…

you can read it HERE!!!

So, overall I would say my weekend was better than it could have been.

If you need me, I’m going to be over in the corner kicking my anxiety in the jimmies… just as soon as I figure out what those are.