Chasing Discomfort

Reinventing yourself is no easy task. It involves changing habits, perspectives, attitudes, goals, relationships, appearance, and a bunch of other stuff I'm probably forgetting. But most importantly, it means you have to stop avoiding discomfort. And let me tell you that the last five months of my life have been UNCOMFORTABLE to say the least. But here I am at last... Mark 2.0.

Your first question should be: "Who are you?" And that should be immediately followed by: "And why should I care?"

To answer the first question, I've discovered that we are all truly defined by our minority statuses. So rather than tell you I'm a thirty-nine year old white guy [insert yawn here], let's deep dive into why I see the world differently than most.

• MORBIDLY OBESE - 5% of the US population - I weighed 370 pounds just over a year ago.
• GAY - 4% of the US population - I've known since the evening of April 4th, 1982.
• ATHEIST - 3% of the US population - Gods. Who needs them?!
• BIPOLAR 2 - 1% of the US population - Yeah, sometimes my brain wants me dead.

When you do the math, that means that only 192.6 people in the US are in all four of those minority groups. Now throw in that I have an MBA and am a gastric bypass recipient and then I just might be the only one in the whole country, or even the entire world.

So experiencing life as a thirty-nine year old, morbidly obese, gay, bipolar atheist with an MBA who just had gastric bypass surgery three weeks ago, provides a very unique perspective on life. I am hyper-aware of myself, my emotions, and my relationships. I've learned how to outsmart my brain, how to battle my body, and to love wholeheartedly. Now I'm here, willing to share my struggles and lessons learned so that they were not experienced in vain. In fact, my story may save you a lot of time and a bunch of heartbreak. So that answers the second question of why you should care.

Your next question is the most important: "Do I want to go along for this ride?" My hint to you: You don't want to miss it...