SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK AND ROLL

spoonful

I’m coming out of my little closet here because I’m a little tired of seeing those who believe that they are perfect set criteria for friendship with others and even put them down. .

These perfect specimens judge other people who need, and deserve, more motivation, support and encouragement than most.

And this is not to everyone. I am not painting ALL the beautiful people with the same brush.

But you do know who you are and you will know if this applies to you.

These perfectly ripped individuals have not much else to worry about except getting perfectly ripped. You got your bottle of spring water and your power bar and you can strut around the gym all sweaty and looking good with all the empathy of a house brick.

I’ve been there looking good and primping in front of the mirror.

Then my bicep decided to come unattached from my elbow. Shortly after that, rushing down the stairs while talking on the phone I tripped over a dog and fractured my spine.

I had no access to health care beyond my MD… I am a visitor to this country so I had to let things heal themselves and simply manage the pain.

I know quite a few people on this site in similar situations, who have gained weight through no fault of their own… serious injuries or a terrible heartbreak, other illnesses, requiring the protracted use of pain killers or other drugs.

Tramadol is such a drug. It is frequently prescribed for pain. Tramadol is not a narcotic, not addictive, and not a controlled substance… yet… so doctors dish them out like M&M’s.

Tramadol is changing though. Already, in five states it is now controlled and is becoming a controlled substance all over the US because it was sold based on a lie.

A lot of people are on this **** and have been for a long time.

Anyway, when the injury is healed enough to allow that person to fight back to become the person he or she was and become the person he or she wants to be they realize that it is not going to be that easy because they have become addicted to the medicine.

They rarely say anything about it because they are ashamed. Why, I have no idea. Perhaps it is the judgements that they anticipate receiving from others.

In my case, like many others, it was this harmless medicine called Tramadol that I was required to stop taking.

Most doctors are unaware of any withdrawal issues because it is not a controlled substance. They just stop writing prescriptions and send the patient off to do the cold turkey thing. .

After about 12 hours, the patient quickly discovers that there is something very wrong.

The withdrawals from Tramadol can kill you. They are without a doubt, more brutal than any other drug on the planet and they last longer than any other. A lot of people are going through it.

In my case I am two months in and I pray that it is almost over and done with.

I talk to these very brave people quite a lot and I am always so impressed that even through the misery of relentless pain and suffering, they fight to reach their weight and fitness goals.

And all the other people, with other kinds of impediments to achieving theirs goals, they just keep fighting. They fall, apologize to everyone, and then get up again and continue.

These are my heroes. I feel humbled sometimes, and it is these people who inspire me to get up when I’m down.

The villains, to me, are the ones at the other end of the spectrum. The perfect specimens who cannot understand why everyone cannot be like them. The “perfect specimens” who possess the empathy and compassion of a house brick.

So next time you get on your "I'm better than everyone else" horse think about this... It costs nothing to give a kind word to someone who needs to hear it the most.

By the way, you might look good on the outside, but inside… I would not like to see what's inside there.