Learning to Carry a Much Lighter Load

I've always carried heavy loads. This probably dates back to college, when I'd head out with several texts, notebooks, poetry and more paraphernalia than I can even recall now. After all, I'd most likely head to a bar after my last class...and who knew where I'd end up after that for the night?

Old habits, etc., etc. Even now, all these years later, my backpack typically contains: a heavy Dell laptop, a heavy adapter cord, 2 notebooks, a pouch with flash drives, cologne, a hair brush, my Kindle Fire, a newspaper, an umbrella, a headset, a book of poems...and more. Add to this, on the way home, a bag of groceries.

On April 5, however, I took a bad fall that has changed things. One of the fall's complications has been a strained back. And, as a result of that, I can no longer carry the usual loads. Oh, I resisted admitting this fiercely--until three people, including my doctor, urged me to come to my senses...unless I wanted a bad back for life.

And this article finished the process of turning me around:

http://mic.com/articles/127005/effects-of-carrying-a-heavy-backpack#.l3Fjh4tUQ

I had to learn quickly, if I were to heal, an art that had always escaped me till now:



To succeed, I'd first need a sound game plan:
1) Reduce typing days on my novel to my off days from work. And even on my off days, type at a nearby cafe or at home. After typing, take or leave the clunker laptop home. 
2) On the road, rely on my smart phone for Facebook activities.
3) For Twitter, make more advanced use of the Schedule function. On Wednesdays and Sundays, my two full days off work, I can schedule Tweets an hour apart for my working days.
4) Pack a notebook instead of the laptop when I head out for work. Get in writing time, free of distractions, before and after work.


My interim backpack replacement is a courier bag something like this:




The whole trick is to pack strategically and to better synchronize my daily time and the week's tasks. Meanwhile, both my back and I enjoy the lighter loads and the sense of freedom.

How to Get the Most From a Strained Back

The 3-step MacRathian Plan--ACT--resulted from back strain caused by not lifting properly the night before.

Acceptance:



1) I needed to get as much rest as possible, time off from sitting before a computer for hours.
2) I needed to accept, chin up, responsibility for the injury.
3) I also needed to accept secondary causes: weight gain in Seattle (working late shifts in The Store, shelves loaded with junk food...and now sitting in an office, suffering from the nibbles)...slippage from religious workouts and stretching, etc.


Conversion:



I found myself faced with two choices--and a real sense of urgency,
1) Decision A: I could rest my back for a day, then return to work and my life as was.
2) Decision B: I could convert this into a mosaic in which the back strain was only one tile. Still other tesserae included physical issues that had troubled me for years--and which too, I was convinced, were food-related. After all, I'd whipped the same issues before when I was eating mostly raw...

The decision seemed a no-brainer: the chance to convert an injury into a golden mosaic of health and positivity. But I only had one day off work--and I knew all too well, from my own experience, how quickly the best intentions slide.

Luckily, the MacRathian Plan stumbled onto its third leg:



Transcendence:



If I worked with the tesserae in the right order and spirit, all the little bits and pieces could support each other--and the process could transcend discouragement and fear of defeat. Like this:
1) I called out from work this morning, then ate my last chocolate bar. (Goodbye, old friend--my love, my Dove!) Then, while I wrote for an hour, I enjoyed the only two decaf coffees I'll allow myself each day. (Theory: I believe the acid in coffee, even decaf, causes a craving for sweets to neutralize the acids.)
2) I decided to fast for one day, since I had ample time to rest and even go to bed early. Weight loss from previous 1-day fasts had always been 2-3 pounds. And the first day is the toughest.
3) I decided to set myself up properly for the return to work: I bought a fresh salad and made a custom snack pack: celery, carrot sticks and apples to nibble on all day.
4) I worked for two hours in the library, free of food temptation.
5) Next, I bought containers in which to store cut-up apples or other fruits/veggies.
6) I returned, for the first time in months, to Pike Place Market to shop for fruit and juicing ingredients.
7) Tonight, after finishing this blog, I'll stop off for a cup of tea and put some more time in on my
WIP's second draft.
8) I'll hit the sack by 7:00 to give my back 9 hours' more rest and to stay out of harm's way with evening food temptations.

Tile by tile, day by day, this golden mosaic will happen.