My straw was the unsettling sound of the bells of the ice cream man driving down the street at 8:30 pm.  Are you mad man, kids know what that sound is, they know what it means.  And little kids who are attracted to those bells like that of the Pied Piper should be in bed.  That is where my 13-month-old daughter laid, after 2 hours of trying to get her to go to sleep (my wife is the pro at getting our daughter to bed, I am not).  Nearly out, I hear the bells, quite at first, with increasing volume.  As he drives down our street, past my daughter’s window, with music full blast, my daughter wakes up scared.  And that was it.  As I rose from my chair, I muttered a few profanities about the ice cream man, but my frustrations at an all time high, I drove my fist into the chair… so my wife returned from a concert to find m daughter asleep in my arms (finally) at midnight, and I had a bag of frozen peas on my hand.  Yes, that is how I broke my hand.

This momentary period of stupidity on my part was the wake up call I needed.  Aside from the broken hand, I have not been myself for a long time.  I have been trying to trace it back, and it has been nearly a year that I have been in this emotional spiral.  And I do not want to make this about my issues, but I have been lazy, and unfocused on the things that have brought me success I the past.  I have not been able to stick to a training program for more than a few weeks at a time without getting bored or complacent.  My diet… a disaster, rest and recovery, non-existent.  Mental training/ meditation… nada.  I have forgotten the basics.  And so do many of the people I see.  I have been so distracted by all that is around me that I had gotten to the point my wife asked, “where is the guys who returned from New York last May?  I miss him.”  This broken hand may very well be a blessing in disguise (or karma giving my a kick I so very much need).

We are so focused on progress, that rarely do we scrap a plan and start from scratch.  But the broken hand for me is the reset point.  I have a chance to end this downward spiral before it gets out of control.  A reset is a chance to evaluate priorities, redefine goals, and start with a fresh plan.  With the embarrassment of how I broke my hand waning (never will it be gone) I am once again getting that “fire in my belly”.  The excitement of change is returning and I am starting to dream big again.  Unfortunately with the end of summer only a month away, this is as good a time as any to have a look at your program, redefine goals and make sure your daily practices are in top order.  The wait time for X-Rays is around 4 hours long!

Yours in health and performance,

Jeff Osadec, MKin, CEP, CSCS