Well another day, come and gone. Not much has changed. There is still this backdrop of stress and financial dire urgency. It just hangs there, coloring everything in this awful light. It is hard to see past it. It is hard to see anything at all. It isn’t a new place, just more of the same. Today was one of those days where it was harder to deal with than normal. I felt that anxiety racing from the minute I opened my eyes. Rather than dwell I headed to the gym. It seems like that has become my escape these days. An hour and a half away from everyone and everything. Just me, my goals and sweat. It is so essential to my sanity. It is an oasis these days. Not that I always want to work out, I’m not that nuts. But I find it is so important to keeping myself from getting completely overwhelmed. There is something about becoming completely oblivious, of everything except that workout. Sure, the Olympics helps. Nothing like watching barely dressed athletes with zero body fat to motivate you. So, I use my noon gym time to get thru the day. Today was no different.

I have started the polo horses back to work for the upcoming winter season. I’m hoping that it can also be a way to ease the stress. The ponies are out of shape, so this first week is real easy. Just getting them back into the routine. Like us, they lose muscle and gain fat when not in work. They have all spent their summer eating and relaxing out in the field. It is a slow and steady return to work. Each day building on the previous one. They will be fairly fit by mid October if I do my job right. I’m looking forward to playing again. It gives me something to look forward to each week. An extremely athletic, aggressive and difficult sport. It challenges me to really push myself to get better, and to school my ponies well. When they perform well, I can get better. I’d like to get more consistent. Rather than have really great moments, I’d like to get really solid across the board. Think it is something I can accomplish. Just need more time in the saddle. I tend to expect a lot of myself and it is easy to get very frustrated playing polo. It is much like golf, in that you need to develop your swing and the muscle memory that creates the correct swing. Unlike golf, polo is moving on horseback. That adds in the difficulty of timing. You need to constantly adjust to what is happening around you. You also need to get your horse to the ball so that you have the opportunity to take that swing. Sometimes little things throw you off, and the swing suffers. It makes it hard. Polo is a tough sport, no doubt about that. But that’s okay, I’m pretty tough too. I like the challenge.