Hat is on Backwards…
Sometimes in life, I have had to turn my ballcap on backwards.
During my baseball career, high school, and some Junior College, I was gassed out during drills, bent over, ready to puke from sprinting pole to pole. Barely able to breathe, I put my hands above my head and purpose ten large full breaths. At the end of this attempt to regain my composure, I ended up turning my hat on backwards before the next set of sprints.
It was time to get nasty.
Nasty with myself and my own issues up to that point.
Running, man was I slow. I never could run fast.
At one point in my surfing career, in my mid-twenties, after a year of work and fun in Hawaii, I was down to 195 lbs. I could at least sprint and be half-way decent. It was common to put my head down and run at full blast with my short board under my arm all the way back to the top of the pointbreak, a good 350 yards, and paddle back out to the outside and catch another set wave, to only repeat the process over and over three to four hours a day.
Those were the days when everything was easy.
Today, if I sprinted, I would be seriously injured within the first 25 yards.
So much bodily damage since then that I can only hike, and it is mountains that I love and need to get the cardio up to fit levels. Where is the time these days, it seems impossible to sacrifice a day for hiking.
My long background story is about turning your cap on backwards.
It is necessary.
I know in the bible there are stories where we see a direct correlation to where God’s favor goes so far to get the person there and then it is up to them to force themselves to turn the cap on backwards, as a metaphor, and then take another step-in faith, and then God bless that action.
There is a mental toughness, an extra emphasis that needs to come forth. I noticed that there is grit within my movements when this happens and then I typically feel God’s presence surround me and envelop my entire spirit, soul, and body.
This happened to me 18 months ago, in November of 2022.
From that point on I found myself waking up at 3:00am every morning to write, lots of writing, and now it has carried over into a new season of speaking. Make no mistake, I am blessed by my Father in Heaven to write and each day, I am inspired to write more fluid inspirational pieces like this one.
My new campaign is not mountains either. I would LOVE to enter a new season of a hiking toward my 4th Kilimanjaro summit with the treasured Tanzanian youth. It is not that though and I wish it was.
It is my health.
I have noticed that in the last five months, I have put on 15-20 extra pounds, and it is outside of the Holiday four-week schedule; this should not be the case.
It is HAT on BACKWARDS again and I am journalling calorie intake, sugar, carbs, salt, and everything in the kitchen sink. No PUN intended.
There seems to be a restriction in my lungs and a reduced capacity of my body to process and synthesize my intake. It is possible that after four years of Covid-19 symptoms for everyone, that there is an immunity breakdown for most people.
It is not conspiracy anymore and anyone that tries to bring this up should be sent to the ‘back of the line’ for simple ignorance.
Chemtrails, chemicals and preservatives in food is the normal conversation. It is what they call mainstream now. The world’s common folk, blue collar, knows that the global corporations are not “For Us,” and it is up to our own household to be extra careful over everything.
I hope and pray that this blog article inspires as I feel like it is more of a staging point for myself. It truly is the toughest time in my life for feeling fit, clean, and an overall tension-less demeanor to carry out a full day’s projects.
HOPEFULLY, I can look back on this one, a few months from now in a leaner me, a more effortless energetic countenance, and say, it was this article that truly pushed me over the top to get NASTY.
Let’s SEE!
By Ryan Shankles
Chef Shank or Panda
3/18/2024
