Ouch!

I tend to work like I’m superhuman… But my body begs to differ.  I slipped a disk in my lower back last week and have been unable to move since last Wednesday.  The pain has been so intense that I’ve avoided eating and have lost 10 lbs in 5 days.  It was the first time in my life that I ever begged for unconsciousness because of how painful it was to move.  And I hope that the worst has come to pass.

My schedule was hell on my body.  I tended to not sleep and work late into the night.  To force my body to keep aware and awake, I doused it with chemicals – soda, caffeine, candy and energy drinks, just to keep the rush going late into the night.  I worked all day on an office chair in a cubicle and late into the night in my home office.  I just feel like it is imperative that I get things done, as if the world rests on my shoulders.

But the one thing I know for certain, is that I won’t sacrifice my family.

My boys!

My family creates a sense of balance for me.  Whenever I get too sleepy, too tired, or too grumpy to spend quality time with my two sons or my wife, I know I’ve pushed too far and I need to slow down and rest.

The thing is, I don’t exercise at all.  My wife has been practically begging me to exercise because she is concerned about the health of my heart.  But it was my back that was first to go.

I sit all day on a keyboard and don’t do much movement.  And at night, I sit for four to six hours at night working again.  Without exercising, my back just didn’t have the strength to hold up under the pressures and demands of two small and active boys.

When it really comes down to it, if I have not the health to enjoy my family and the fruits of my labors, then my work was for nothing.

Thankfully, it was my back that gave out first and not my heart.  A heart attack would have been catastrophic.  And as it is, the prognosis looks good: I may be able to avoid surgery and it looks good for a full recovery.

In the end, I won’t let this stop me from achieving my goals at all.  It just means that when I cross that finish line, I will be also be buff enough to carry my beautiful wife and two sons on my shoulders.

And cosplay as one of the 300...