Today, Freya, Christopher and I went for a walk through Colinton Dell, by the side of the Water of Leith - muddy and a wee bit cold, but it is definitely my favourite part of Edinburgh. It makes you feel like you're far away from the cares and concerns of the modern world in a beautiful wooded rural idyll - while you are really only a brief bus ride from the centre of the city.
It gave me pause to reflect on that I am actually (a mere 14-ish years since I moved here from Dundee) beginning to quite like living here...
The past six and a bit of those years have definitely helped, in that time I have moved on from the absolute lowest point of my life to meet and marry my wonderful wife Freya, become a father (to the fabulous Christopher), move house (once), change bands (twice) and change jobs (three times).
In that time I have also started to come to terms with my own mental health - finally seeking help for what had been a 20 year private(ish) battle with depression. It's not always great, but some counselling, the anti-ds and the love of my family are all helping me to get things sorted.
One of the side effects of my current (prescription) "drug of choice" is that it increases my appetite (which was already fairly "healthy") - as a result I am now the heaviest that I have ever been (not quite twice the skinny 11 stone that I was when I headed off to University but far closer than I am happy with) and have decided to draw a line in the sand, so to speak. The gloves are off, and the gutties are on! Freya and I have hit the diet and joined the Cooncil gym (a lot flashier than they were the last time that I ventured into one) and this time we mean it.
Which brings me back to Colinton - I reckon that if exercise comes in the guise of wandering through a beautiful place like the Dell, then I may actually manage to stick this diet and fitness thing out...
:-)
ReplyDeleteMore power to your elbow or grist for your mill or whatever encouraging phrase suits.