After a lifetime of slacking and generally not doing much with my potential, this last year I’ve really been working at turning everything around and accomplishing what I want.
My friend Cory has been a huge inspiration in all of that. He is 21 years old, and has had a heart defect since childhood. A lifelong knowledge of early death combined with high-functioning autism has created a superhuman asskicking machine. Between mastering Muay Thai boxing, lecturing in Beijing, and becoming an expert on Nietzsche and getting his PhD in logic (in the process publishing a paper that placed him as a candidate for the Fields Medal), he’s found time to go to law at NYU and earned a high-paying job as a sabremetrician for a major league baseball team.
Did I mention he’s donated millions out of his own family fortune to fight for causes he believes in ranging from gay rights to Doctors without Borders?
I figured, if he can do all that, I can at least eat right and study. So I have. My entire life, I never took a single note in class. I never did homework and always turned in projects or papers late. You didn’t want me in your group–I would do none of the work and insist on being the one doing the presentation.
Today, I got back my midterm grades. Three Bs and two A+s. I’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a far cry from the slew of D’s that I always struggled to bring up to a C by finals week.
Today, my credit card company raised my limit from $1500 to $2400. I haven’t paid a single bill late in the entire time I’ve had my card and my credit is starting to reflect that responsibility.
Today, I passed my weight goal. I tipped the scale at just below 139.8–to put this into perspective, I haven’t weighed this little since seventh grade. My bodyfat percentage is 9% and dropping, while my strength has increased 2-3x. The change is, well, dramatic.
Pizza sales in the restaurant where I work are on the rise, and it’s all thanks to my wrestling control of the menu from the head chef. I recently got a raise and was offered a promotion which I turned down because it didn’t offer as much creative freedom.
So you know what? I’m going to brag on the internet. I can’t do it IRL and I’m just exploding with pride and have to share it with someone. And the weather is gorgeous right now. I’m rewarding myself by skipping class, lying in a hammock and reading all afternoon. I’ve earned it, damnit.
