Staying Sober in the Caribbean

What are the first things one thinks of when pondering the Caribbean.....beautiful blue waters, sunshine, beaches, palm tress swaying in the breeze...ah paradise.  Oh what about the pina colada in hand or a beer.....or some other tropical alcohol laden treat like mango madness, planters punch or the famous rum punch.  This picture wouldn't be complete without the drinks, right?

So how do I live here for six months of the year and stay sober.  Well it ain't easy.  Alcohol is everywhere.  In your face at every corner.  Fortunately I have a refuge....a beautiful home to stay at where I can create my own sober environment most of the time.  If my space at home gets invaded to the point of anxiety there is always the privacy of my bedroom.  However simple avoiding exposure to drinking situations gets pretty crazy.  I do not want to live in a bubble.  I have developed tools that enable me to cope.  I put my health first.  I look at my time in the Caribbean as health camp so to speak.  Rather than return to the States needing a body detox like many vacationers I strive to be in better shape from when I arrived.  So I run.  I do yoga.  I scuba dive. I explore new places.  I challenge my mind.  I follow self-healing philosophies. I befriend those without drinking problems with whom I have some common interests.  They are far and few between but so are good real friends.  I find there are days when those drinking around me doesn't bother me much.  Then there are days when I cannot stand it so I  find other things to do with my time.  It is a balancing act.

I believe anyone who truly needs to abstain from alcohol can do it.  Remember that sobriety is a choice. A healthy choice. It requires coping tools unique to each individual and healing from within ones self.    

Really Getting Published

In my last post I mentioned I am getting an article published in the Ultimate Runner, published by HCI Books.  It is due out in May sometime.  I am pretty geeked about this and can see I really need to beef up this blog.  I was notified that I should prepare myself for an interview and podcast, all publicity for the whole work but I am a part of this too.  It was also suggested that I include a blog site.  PANIC...so I am developing a plan for this blog on running and self-healing.  I am also going to shoot for 4 entries a week with a patterned type of theme to it.  Gotta love goal setting!   So what have I been up to:


I recently took a boating trip to Tortola.  Nice picture of the crew below.  Myself, my nephew Don, our good buddy Paul and Captain Jim.  Don and Paul are my dive buddies and Jim in my SO. Tortola is a very nice place with great diving and sailing.  It is however not a great place to go running, being a woman alone and an early morning runner.  So I took a bit of a break in my training.  I think I need to do that once in a while even though I miss it and get stoved up and ornery.  10 days was just too damn long to go without running.  I returned back to St Maarten refreshed and ready to run.  So I am back at it.  20 miles a week minimum, yoga stretches and healthy eating choices.

 

I traded running for 5 very nice dives and a overnight trip to the island of St John where I visited my daughters boyfriends family.  St John is beautiful and I enjoyed the immense amount of National Park there.  The beaches are amazing.  No tiki bars and hairbraiders here! We also were the "mother ship" to a sailing vessel from St Maarten for the BVI Sprig Regatta.  I was leery at first mainly because these sailors are quite the drinkers.  I tend to steer myself away from these situations where I am surrounded by drunkeness....self-preservation I guess.  But it turned out quite ok.  I learned alot about sailing and how to deal with alcohol in my face for days in a row.  Not easy but I did it.  Witnessing drunks followed by the hangovers every morning is a good reminder of what I dont miss!!!

My Horoscope

I am having my typical day here on the island.  I worked out, sweat my ass off, and settled in to do some writing.  I checked my horoscope for the day and it suggested that I visit a body of water, return to nature, practice some self-healing, and share this with others.  So here I sit with a certain amount of self-healing knowledge and pondering how to share this with others.  I have healed my body from alcohol abuse and stay on course with healing my mind.  Sharing this with others is a task ever present on my mind and I am wanting to develop something.  More blogging? A book comes to mind also.  I am getting a small piece published on running and recovery to be included in The Ultimate Runner, due out in May of this year.  I guess that is a start.  

The Island Funk

Spent the last 2 days afflicted with what I call the island funk. Don't know if it is the water, food, heat, sun or what but I get this malaise every so often here.  Maybe I push it too hard and need to heed my own advice which is "Listen to your body."  When it says go, then go and when it says take it easy, take it easy. So I took it easy....like a day or two and let it pass and emerge renewed and ready to run, dive, take on projects...you name it.  Today we are painting the kitchen after a little remodel job.  Suppose I will have to cook more now!   

It is my birthday week.  Time for reflecting on last year and ahead to this coming year...more like New Years then the actual one in January.  I hope to go diving with friends on my birthday or there abouts and celebrate with healthy things and activities rather than what I used to do which was party like a rock star. "To my health and general well-being!!"    

Rainy Sunday

Ah...a rainy Sunday morning here on the island!  I actually have goosebumps.  Seems wonderful to have an escape from the oppressive humidity and heat of the last week.  We experienced high "real feel" temps for well over a week now and the change is very welcome.  Now it is supposed to be rainy and stormy for the next 4 days so I will probably be bitching in no time. In the mean time I can catchup on inside stuff and run in the rain which I have come to really enjoy.   Maybe spend more time with Yoga also.

In my last post I quoted "Self confidence is knowing that we have the capacity to do something and firmly decide not to give up" by the Dalai Lama. I found in the beginning of sobriety that my self confidence was shot.  I felt like I had to learn to live all over again without the courage and confidence that alcohol so falsely provided.  So the process began very slowly and painfully.  Because I have enjoyed athletic activities almost my entire life that is the arena I naturally gravitated towards.  Started with walking, then the whole running discovery kicked in and now scuba diving and boating on the ocean.  I feel confident in my abilities in these activities and it is real....not falsely propped up with artificial courage.  And this confidence is not egotistical but a feeling of freedom and independence...freedom from needing artificial backing up.  Somehow this feeling of wellness and confidence carries over into my daily activities bit by bit and I feel better about myself as time goes by.  I guess a little bit of self confidence goes a long way.             

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile.  Mostly sober for 4 years now.  It's also been awhile since I wrote on this blog. It is high time to warm up the keyboard and develop a bit of discipline I think.  I figure if I have the discipline to run, eat healthy and stay mostly sober, I should be able to maintain a blog and actually write in a timely fashion.  It is also time to change things up.  When I find myself in a rut of sorts I change things up so I am adding scuba diving discussions since that has become my latest passion and some thoughtful quotes and/or inspirational ideas to ponder upon. 

Running has been going great.  I metaled in every race I ran last season.  September and October got a little slow but as soon as I returned to the Caribbean I picked up the pace.  My goal for 2009 was to run 1000 miles. In the beginning of December I did not think I would make it but really poured on the gas the last to weeks and actually made 1001!!  2010 goals include 1000 plus miles. Did I mention I turn 53 next week.  Not bad for an old fart. 

Per usual I do my pondering while running...actually it is more like active meditation. My thoughts today were inspired by the Dalai Lama "Self confidence is knowing that we have the capacity to do something and firmly deciding not to give up"  which brings me to...Ah.....scuba.....Talk about a confidence builder!!  It was last November when we had guests here in the Caribbean that were avid scuba divers.  As I watched them take off all geared up in our dinghy and return with gems from the ocean I asked myself "What is wrong with this picture?"  And so it began.  I first went out to test the waters with 2 very good friends emerging from the first dive thinking I wanted to go right back down.  A few days later I was enrolled in a course and 2 weeks later I was an open water certified diver.  A few weeks later I became an advanced diver and currently I am taking the rescue diver course. I sincerely hope I never have to use these skills but the life I save just may be my own too!  I have had the same dive buddy through all 3 courses...a very nice dutch friend who is a chef here on the island.  We have a blast together and have learned and shared a lot of experiences.  With 30 plus dives under my belt I wonder about dive master later on. The underwater world is fascinating to me as I kick myself in the ass for not diving sooner. I am keeping a fish/sea creature log which grows every time I dive.  Sharks do not thrill me but I am getting used to them along with barracudas......geez but they are ugly guys and rather intimidating.  Hopefully I will get an underwater camera soon so I can record some of the sights and share them.

While I have been writing this there has been a Regatta going by the house....100's of boats..I mean 100's..very cool.....maybe I need to try sailing??!!

Red Wings and Racing

Three words say it all.....GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yea I admit I am a hockey fan. It is easy to say it is my favorite spectator sport. I love it...love the hustle, the skill, the speed of the game and of course the players accents. Three words say it all.........GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!

I ran two races last week, one 5K and one 8K. Both of which I won my age group (50-59 and 50-54 respectively) I shaved 2 minutes off both times from last years races so I am feeling really good about my winter training and how far I have come since I began running three years ago. In the 8K I even won the Grand Masters, meaning the old farts classes 50 and up. So there ya go. Even ex-drunks can turn things around and head in a healthier direction.

Running for me is more than just a physical thing. It is a place I can go and leave the thoughts of yesterday, today and tomorrow on a shelf for a bit and concentrate on the run. I let my mind go and my body just flow...it is a real meditative thing for me. Then I follow up with Yoga or at least stretches dervied from Yoga. This helps keep my body aligned, muscles loose, increases flexibilty and improves my breathing. I also can let the energy of the day leave for a while and find focus and balance in my body and mind. And it is all fun!! I find cross training with Yoga and Pilates a great compliment to running.

The weather could sure turn its happy ass around up here in Michigan. The high today is supposed to be 63. It is June 2!!! The seeds I planted in the garden last week are probably shivering or putting on coats at this point. I'll say this again....Global Warming my lily white ass...Al Gore never took much data from Mid-Michigan. Anyway my garden is mostly planted except for the plants themselves because we still have frost warnings for later in the week. This is getting ridiculous in my book, but since there is not one damn thing I can do about it I'll just chuckle at it all.....makes for great running weather anyway.