The sun is beating on my skin while I kayak upstream. A turtle sits on a tree stump that’s protruding from the water’s surface. He stretches his neck to look around, he takes a few steps and jumps. Surrounded by the lake and trees, it feels like there’s nothing that can break the silence. Then my sister looks back at me, laughing. I’m far behind, but it’s okay. I’m enjoying the warm weather April had to offer. Plus, my arms were getting tired.

A month before, I was at a pub in Delaware drinking margaritas and enjoying the crowd all dressed in green, including myself, for St. Patrick’s Day. Little did I know, whiskey would be my last taste of alcohol for a while. 

Some sort of switch went off. I woke up the next morning and wanted to go for a walk. It was cold, the breeze made it worse. Either way, I still wanted to be outside.

It was time to take my health into my own hands. I’ve always tried to be active, but never really followed through. This time was different. A health scare I had over the summer finally caught up with me and projected me into a health craze. 

I was never really healthy to begin with. You could say I was one of those mindless chip eaters. I was graced with a good metabolism, but recently, eating well and staying active increased my lust for life. I wake up and I feel like today is mine. I’m ready to tackle something new.

Don’t get me wrong, I love food. I probably think about what’s for dinner right after I have lunch. Being aware of the portion sizes I eat helps me to not go through half a bag of Doritos in one sitting.

If you asked me what my favorite thing to do on the weekends was, my answer probably would have been, “Drinking a glass or two of wine. Maybe three.” Now the best parts of my weekends are catching up with friends, bowling, bike riding to a dog park and getting outside as much as possible. 

I thought it would’ve been hard to stop drinking alcohol, but it was the easiest decision I made. Sure, we all have those nights we want to go out and have a good time or vacations when we want to splurge a little. But, now my weekends are saved for good conversations, homework I never finished and laughing at the little things.

The quirkiness of life is amusing. All I have to do is sit back and let it unravel.

For questions/comments about this story, email features@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.