What's your medicine

Yesterday as I browsed facebook I came across many disturbing facts about perscription drug use, heroin, and methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine has been a problem in my town for a number of years. I know people who have used the drug. This drug grabs people early in life. Out of 160 ish students that were in my high school class I knew at least 8 people who tried methamphetamine. That's just the people I knew who admitted to trying it. That's a scary # for such young people.

The amount of perscription drug use is also very frightening. It seems as though everyone you talk to is on some sort of perscription drug. Don't get me wrong here, in some cases there is a need to medicate with perscriptions! The abuse of these drugs just seem to be sky rocketing!

Yesterday I read confirmation of heroin use in the county I live in. How many young people is heroin going to swipe up and gain control over? To me this is heartbreaking and terrifying especially in such a small community.

Where does this need for stimulants come from?

There is a sense of control in me that is too terrified to even try such drugs. Drugs that might make me feel out of control. To be in control of my mind and body is something I need to feel safe. Workouts have become a stress outlet as well as a way to get my mind and spirit in line. It has become a healthy outlet when controlled and managed in healthy doses. Like a drug, exercise can be addicting. There is harmful addictive and healthy addictive. However, I do not have an addictive personality so it takes just the right amount of exercise to keep me hooked on it. Looking back to my middle school and high school days where a lot of people I knew became slave to drugs and alcohol, I'm grateful for athletic organizations such as girls basketball, soccer, softball, and track. All of which I took part in as I grew up. If it weren't for that foundation of Athletics, my life would look totally different. That's not to say I dodged harmful things completely or lived healthy all of the time. To be honest I went through a bout of tribulation that I managed to escape when I found a nook in weight training.

A firm believer in exercise is the best medicine, my hope is that if you have not found a routine and eating plan that works for you, I hope you find one! Find it fast because I promise it will be the best health decision you've ever made. Find something you enjoy ie: swimming, tennis, hiking, biking, lifting, running, you name it. If you enjoy it you are more likely to keep doing it!  Exercise is a medication! A natural one! Think about it: if you have arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high body weight index, high anxiety. Exercise has been proven to help manage all of the above. Try it!