Live It Up, Drink It Down

"Nothing lasts forever, so live it up, drink it down, avoid the b.s, take chances and never regret because at one point it was what you wanted." -- Unknown

In 2011, I went through a horrible breakup, one which included vandalizing (done by other party - not on my end) and suing (still not on my end).  That was my first relationship (ever), so due to the nature of such trauma, I became a bit self-destructive.  I began to live it up.  Partying endlessly - there were times where I probably only slept like 5 hours in 72 hours weekend.  To get out my angst, I ran close to 6-8 miles a day.  I took chances, and I said yes to so many things I would never have even thought to do in this life time - I will forgo listing my 'yes's', so use your imagination.  

Fortunately or unfortunately, I returned to a state coined by psychology scholars as hedonic adaptation, all it means is that as humans we have the " tendency [...] to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes."  Today, I no longer do things to the extreme as my body naturally gave out after eight months of exhaustion of trying to live it up.

Guinea Pig chowing in Peru

The year that was 2011, however, transcends the degree of openness in myself and opens the flood gate that is now Anna-ism.  That year, I began my traveling and have not stopped ever since.  I began drinking... uh...and uh have minimized to once or twice a month, and possibly a beer here and there (prior to my current self, I thought drinking was dumb - drugged induced behavior).   I began to eat food of all sorts, such guinea pigs and donkeys, to name a few.  I even swam (I couldn't swim for the longest time - I drowned and blacked out as a kid).   I ran several races, when at one point in my life, I thought running 5 miles is impossible.

Running Running as Fast as I can... 

Point being, I turned a lemon (the breakup) into lemon tartlets.  At the breakup point, I probably did not see it, and was just trying to consume myself with forgetting and making myself better.  But by going out, I was able to socialize and be among people who supplied myself with positive energy.  By eating all sorts of different foods, my mind became more open.  By traveling, my confidence in my abilities grew even stronger.  By exercising, the endorphins boosted my happiness allowing me to socialize, which in turn boosted myself to a whole other level of happiness.  

Through all this, I've learned to detached from things, people, places, etc.  When those options are no longer is viable in my life, I learned to let them go with all the courage and dignity in the world.

In introspective times like these, I reflect and am ever so grateful for having been able to live it up, drink it down, avoid the b.s.es, and take chances and never regret. 

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picture 1*:  No Animals Were Harmed... Until it was fried and roasted.