Tag Archives: athletics

Drug Withdrawal

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Almost Mud Season and still snowing! (If you are reading this after the mountain closes, you can still get the point). Skiers and boarders will soon be shaking and fidgeting, hyperventilating as they grieve the end of the season. As I write this, they have a few more days of new snow to soothe their soon-to-be-frazzled nerves. Get as much of it as you can and prepare for abstinence, for the harsh and abrupt end of daily use. Sounds like drug withdrawal to me: one last high before enforced quitting. Continue reading →

Bring Olympic Qualities to Your Life

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Besides being entertained by the Olympics and enjoying those adrenalin rushes from watching speed skating, downhill, mogul and halfpipe events, there may be more to be learned from these exceptional athletes. Obviously physically gifted, what else do they have going for them? What allows some individuals to become Olympians or simply to feel good about their lives, while others land in jail, divorce court for the third time, or are brain dead from a drug overdose…or just have that knot in their gut that prevents genuine satisfaction and joy in everyday living? Continue reading →

Into the Solution – Can Athletics help?

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In honor of the Olympics, not to mention the Steamboat Triathlon taking place this weekend, I am looking at athletics and physical health as part of the solution to addiction and other dysfunctions.

Brian Clay, after winning the Gold Medal for decathlon in Beijing, is now hailed as the World’s Greatest Athlete. Anyone watching this part of the Olympics has had a chance to see clips of him at home with his wife and two young children and hear reference to his very troubled youth. It is said that he began to “get in with the wrong crowd”, but found athletics and chose a different pathway. Ato Boldon, former world class sprinter and current commentator at the Olympics, said, “Decathlon was a good way for him to deal with his anger,” referring to Brian Clay’s early participation in the sport, really ten sports, as the venue that helped him through difficult times. Extreme? Certainly, and an excellent lesson. Continue reading →