Turning Back the Hyper Clock

Spring Break officially started for me at 2 p.m. yesterday.  It was a bit surreal as I got into my car and turned the radio on to hear Deep Purple's "Highway Star." As I heard the words flow out of the speakers, "Nobody's gonna take my car, I'm gonna race it to the ground/ Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound," I started getting pumped.   While breaking the speed of sound is a little ridiculous to think about my Toyota Yaris, hearing that song after I got out on break, made me feel like I was 17 again with the whole vacation in front of me.  Back then, I had no responsibilities but school; now, I could only pretend that was true. Whatever the case, in that playful spirit, I turned the speakers up full blast and began speeding down the highway.  By the time I was in the high 80's or maybe it was low 90's, I saw that a cop had pulled a similar celebrator over on I-75.  He looked like he was about 19.  I'm sure he wasn't listening to Deep Purple, probably more like Lil' Wayne or something, but you get the picture.  I quickly came back to my senses. Point of fact, young males get more speeding tickets than anyone does.  There's a good reason for that- They've got so much testosterone pumping through their bodies that they become stupid.  I thought it was interesting, though, that as soon as I tried to turn back the clock to those old days, even if it was just make believe, I almost got zapped just like those old days.  

It's not that I'm saying I shouldn't act young; it's just that I'm saying I shouldn't act stupid.  There is a balance between becoming complacent as you grow older by letting everything go to pot and going to the other extreme of not taking advantage of the maturity the years have given you.  My age is perfect in many ways because I can still have lots of energy and vigor while getting the benefit of my experience and maturity.  One may say that I'm wearing rose-colored glasses and that I'm choosing to look at it in that way because I have no other choice.  While there is a grain of truth in that, I say it's mostly bullshit.  Albeit, I may have to work a little harder at having the energy, but it's still there for the taking.  My lack of energy in the past was because I was fucking fat and I identified with that body as the self.  I don't want to get neurotic and apply the philosophy that you're not you're body to the extent of not taking care of the machine because I'm thinking that it ultimately doesn't matter anyway.  It's that misapplication of "the philosophy" that can make neophyte devotees think old.  What it really should be is that first of all, I'm not my body, and second of all, the body should be taken care of.  This is especially important because in the conditional stage of life we identify with our body to an extent anyway, and if we let it get unfit and unhealthy then we can only get depressed and "grow old" before our time.  

Lately, I have developed a taste for working out.  I actually burn to do it and this is, I think, for several reasons.  In fact, after I write this blog and before I sail off to Atlanta for a couple of days, I'm going to put in a couple of hours at the Gainesville health and Fitness Center.  First of all, I have got into the routine and it feels great while I'm doing it.  I have got past the initial difficulty of getting started and feel I'm making a little progress almost everyday.  It has become easier for me and I am encouraged.  Second of all, I always feel great after I do it.  I have more hop in my step and more strength in my body.  Before I started my regular regimen, my knee was really hurting.  I believed that I had partially torn a ligament and was having a hard time for several months.  I started walking around the neighborhood everyday but sometimes the knee really felt bad.  Now, that I've taken to weight training, that has gradually changed for the better.  If I had started out with too much weight, it may have made matters worse.  Fortunately, I had the where-with-all to start slow and gradually build up the weight (that's where my maturity has come in).  Now, my knee feels strengthened and the botheration I felt before there is almost completely gone.

In other news, I submitted my application for the UF College of Print Journalism at the end of February and expect to hear back from them anywhere from mid to late April.  If I am accepted, I will be pumped.  If not, then I will have a choice between trying to get in for the Spring of 2010 semester or applying for the College of Broadcast Journalism for the fall term.  I am into both, so if I am not accepted for my first choice I don't want to wait around and be chomping at the bit.  I want to keep on rolling.  Of course, if I had a semester off, I could concentrate on making money, which I could sure use right now, but I'm trying to make choices for the long-term so that I will no longer be in the short-term financial situations that I am now in.  Whatever I do, I have to continue to keep thinking positive while being practical and realistic at the same time.  If I follow the ancient Vedic spiritual text by Rupa Goswami called Upadesamrita, or the Nectar of Instruction, I will be simultaneously patient and enthusiastic, which is a winning combination for anyone in any endeavor in life.