Being in the Zone is Even Better Than Being “Back in the Day”

First, I don’t write these things to brag. Please don’t take my excitement or candor as boasting. I see no point in such things. I’m simply writing to journal and gather my thoughts on something I’ve been thinking about for awhile: Today is even better than “back in the day.”

Talk to anyone 20+ and sooner or later they’ll reflect on a previous time in their life and talk about it like it was the pinnacle of their existence. There is nothing wrong with looking back and being excited about stuff you did. Heck, we all have good memories (and bad). What I’m talking about here is when a person, possibly in their 30’s or 40’s or even older refers to some epoch in their life as the best. This obviously implies that their plans have went somehow wrong and their current existence is less satisfactory. Yes?

Now that we have that out of the way, it’s time for the stuff that I warned you about in the beginning. As much as I’ve longed to have my high school years back, as much as I enjoyed my college years and as much as I dug single life and the dating scene, I’m in the best place I’ve ever been right now.

There are so many reasons why I’m in the position I’m in right now. I cannot take all of the credit, although I had a hand in it. Circumstances and forces have forced themselves on me and I’ve used my time and resources to respond appropriately.

I live in Pacific Beach, which is an unincorporated city inside San Diego, California. My wife, daughter and I live in a condo on the 4th floor and it’s approximately 1 mile from Mission Bay and 2 miles from the beach sand. It’s an optimal location for countless reasons.

The 4th floor location of our condo is perfect for a noisy musician like me! We have no neighbors above us and we have a stairwell to our West. Our South wall is shared by a couple who works (one is in the military) a whole lot and are rarely there. Our neighbor below us is also a musician who plays an instrument that sounds like a flute. She is a nice woman from Germany. By the way, did you know that I’m German? My last name is Gastrich (and used to be Gastreich and Gastrick respectively many years ago).

The location of our condo causes me to ride my bike 2 full miles to the beach. If we lived further away, it would either be harder or more difficult to bike to the beach and I wouldn’t do it on a regular basis. If I lived closer to the beach, my ride would be shorter and I wouldn’t get as much exercise. To illustrate why this matters, I’m going to look in my exercise log and see how many hours I ride my bike to the beach and back on a regular basis. BRB. Ok, during November and December 2008 and January 2009, I averaged 17.5 hours a month on my bike. Nearly all of these hours are to the beach and back to catch waves.

I’m in the best physical condition of my life. I weigh 147 pounds and I just lost 40 pounds. Wow, it feels good! : ) I just bought a new wardrobe at The Gap, Old Navy and somewhere else. I had a size 38 waist and now I have a size 28 waist. As you can imagine, I’m a helluva lot faster in the water; which is critical when you have huge surf wanting to crash down on you. I can paddle faster, so I can catch more waves and fewer waves crash on or in front of me.

I cannot remember when I weighed 147 pounds. Looking back, I think it was in 9th or 10th grade. I was 135 before and presumably during 8th grade because of Pop Warner football. And I remember being 187 pounds in 12th grade at the football weigh ins because I was eating tons of stuff to try to get to 190 in roster. My pictures in 8th, 9th and 10th grade show me as a fit and toned guy, but pictures from 11th, 12th and my Freshman year of college indicate an overweight body. From my Junior year through my first year of graduate school, I got into very good shape and was 153 pounds.

I’m married with a loving wife and a cool daughter. I seriously have no need to be on the prowl. My needs are repeatedly met and I’m there when they need me. Things aren’t always peachy, but overall things are good and moving in the right direction on the homefront.

I really like my car. My Dad gave me a Ford Thunderbird a few years ago and it runs well. It’s not worth a fortune, but that’s fine by me. I recently considered selling it and buying something else, something newer, but I decided against it because my car runs very well and I like it. I decided to give it a new paint job, rims and tint (which is what I did with my first car – a 1985 Toyota Camry – when my Mom gave it to me when I was 16 years old). It has a very good stereo and it’s fun to drive!

My daughter goes to an excellent private school. She is getting a Christian education from teachers who care deeply about her. The classes also have a smaller teacher to student ratio than public schools.

I’m making enough money with my jobs that I’m able to pay all of my bills, use some money for fun stuff and save a little! I don’t think I was put on this Earth to work 70 hours a week until I die, just so I can be a little richer. On the contrary, I’m pretty sure I’m here now to work 30-40 hours and use the rest of my time very wisely.

I frequently catch waves at the beach. It has been a little more difficult to have the discipline necessary to get myself down there every day in the winter, though. The water is currently 55-56 degrees and the cool winds in the afternoons will make you super cold after you get out of the water. Nonetheless, I’ve still been going and I did go and will go religiously when it warms up a little.

Surfing is a privilege and a curse. It’s a blessing and a beast. Some people will consider my chosen form of exercise and occupation and still say I don’t work or do anything. On the contrary, I do everything, all the time, over and over again.

Until a few months ago, the only thing really lacking in my life was a social life and I’m happy to have one again. I was in a fraternity in college and hung around with the guys nearly every night. I was in the youth group at my church from birth until college. There were always people to see and things to do! However, you move a few times (once to Virginia and back) and you get married and a little older and you might realize your friends are gone! Like I did! Then I found them all on Facebook. : )

In all seriousness, I didn’t find them ALL, but I found a good percentage of them! I’ve been so happy to reconnect with people I used to hang out with. I’m pretty self-confident and I generally don’t mind doing stuff alone – from driving across country to going to the gym – but I do like talking to my buddies and going out with friends from time to time! Facebook helped fill this void.

My in-laws live three hours away and my parents live 30 minutes away. For my wife’s sake, I wish my in-laws lived closer. However, for my sake, the current situation is good. We don’t have to worry about drop-ins and we aren’t expected to visit all the time. It should be said that I do love my in-laws and my parents very much and enjoy spending time with them, though.

I’m self-employed and do not work 9 to 5. In fact, I work whatever hours I want to work. Now, this may seem great and wonderful – and it is – but it only works if you actually work. And the first thing people normally want to do when they don’t have to work is not work. Think about it. So, whether you believe it or not, I’m telling you it takes far more discipline to work when you’re self-employed. I really don’t mind, though. Lots of things take discipline and like someone once said to me, “You get nothing worthwhile without hard work.”

I really enjoy my schedule because I like change. Sometimes I go to bed at 11:30pm or 12:30am. Sometimes I go to bed at 3am. That’s just how I roll. I don’t like a set routine when it comes to sleep because inspiration can strike at any time. For instance, if I’m working on a web site that needs to be fixed or finished, I don’t want to stop until it is complete. If I’m trying to find some songs on my guitar, I’m not going to stop until I finish. And so on and so forth. There are a handful of things that really need to be done when they come up. I have enough lists of things to do, why add onto them if you don’t have to?

As for the past . . . . . there was a lot of joy, but also a lot of pain. High school was amazing! Being around so many different people was awesome. I enjoyed talking to people in the halls, at lunch, during class, after school, etc. It seemed that there was always something new to do and someone new to talk to. Great fun! However, it wasn’t all fun.

I had a curfew, so I couldn’t be out all night. I had break-ups and sad times with various girls. My football team sucked. I got thrown out of my private school twice and had to start over at the public school and I obviously didn’t graduate with the friends I had hung out with for years and years.

During college, I experimented for a bit, then got very religious. Experimented probably isn’t the right word because that’s not really what I did. I simply abused alcohol and drugs and sex far more than I should have. It was a lot of foolishness going nowhere for no good reason. This, of course, was followed by several years of the other extreme.

During graduate school, I thirsted for knowledge. However, I also hungered for a wife. This led me to get thrown out of Liberty Seminary in Virginia. I found a girl in Israel who lived a few hours from my school and we, um, shacked up and they didn’t like it and dismissed me.

Marriage was a great thing for me. I got married to a great, Christian girl when I was 26 and I felt like I waited plenty long. The first few years were rough, but we’ve worked through them and are in a good place now. Our 8th anniversary is in April of this year.

I’ve written a few books and I’m in the process of writing a couple more. I’ve visited exciting places like Israel, Greece, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and La Paz. I’ve written songs and recorded them. I’ve embarked on two 40 day fasts. I’ve tripped on ecstasy and acid (about a decade ago), I’ve run for Governor of California as a Republican and I’ve earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. There isn’t a whole lot I haven’t done (besides the horrible things I’ve ruled out and stayed away from on purpose).

Well, I’m going to bring this “dear diary” “book” to an end in a minute. Looking back at this letter and my overwhelming feelings of contentment and joy, I suppose I have simple needs. While I have big personal aspirations, I don’t feel like I have to do anything I cannot immediately do in order to have these feelings. I have them every day. Perhaps it’s simply self-actualization now.

Don’t get me wrong. My life isn’t perfect. In fact, it’s far from it. It consists of a lot of hard work, discipline and even some pain. However, after a lot of tedious tacking and sailing, it’s awesome to be in the zone.