OT - Michael Phelps and his rehab experience, recommitment to swimming

Everyone has them.  Some of us struggle to face them on a daily basis.  I'm proud of him for overcoming his.  I hope he keeps it up.

I suffered through an addiction for many years, to the point where I felt the only option was to take my life.  It's the darkest thing that anyone can go through.  So I love to read all of these comback stories, as even if it gets one person the help they need then it's successful.  It takes a lot of soul searching and a ton of hard work, but your life will be so much more fulfilling and happy on the other side.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that his mother said, "Oh, my God, here we go again. How terrible is the world going to be to my son?”

Good read.  I've been a greateful recovering alcoholic for almost 9 years now, and a lot of the story resonated with me.  

It's true that everybody has "demons," but some slice of the population just has a lot bigger ones.  There's a sliding scale, but the folks who have addictive personalities are on the upper end.  Sometimes it's driven by enviornmental/life events (abuse, abandonment, some childhood trauma), sometimes I think it's just genetics that produces more fear/anxiety in people (i.e. neurotransmitter levels)--or some type of mixture.

Just speaking from my own observations, folks w/ the addictive personality actually tend to be very intelligent & full of potential.  The problem is, they get paralysis by analysis and are more prone to fear future theoretical problems and/or over-analyze things that happened in the past.  

My personal theory is that pretty much every single highly accomplished person in the world (athletics, business, creative arts, politics, scientific inventors, etc.), are folks with this addictive personality.  Why?

They've got an internal drive (fear? anxiety? insecurity?) that pushes them to the extreme.  Very passionate individuals. These are black & white thinkers--folks who say either they want to be the #1 champion or don't want to bother trying at all.  Perfectionists.  At any rate, my theory is these folks focus on something to occupy their mind & time to avoid that internal fear/anxiety/insecurity.  Like a drug, they keep pushing themselves to higher and higher limits, whereas normal people would feel satisified & accomplished at a far earlier point.  Most normal people that make $500K or $1M per year, or become a successful local politician would call it good and spend more time with their friends and family.  The obsessive/addictive doesn't and so pushes to become the multi-millionaire or congressman or governor.  Of course there are exceptions where people could just luck into $50M with one simple invention or somehow fall into a congressional seat, but usualy that stuff takes a ton of time & sacrifice.  Most folks hit a point where the marginal value of the dollar they earn (or the fame or power they acquire) starts to dwindle, and they'd just rather do a BBQ with friends or chill & Netflix w/ family.

I'm not talking about normal sized-ambition.  Hopefully most people have that.  I'm talking about the types that have so much of it that it becomes radically imbalanced and other things (finances, relationships, health, etc.) start to suffer becasue of it.  High achieving people have alot of admirable qualities--talent, focus, drive.  But being "well balanced" isn't typically one of them.  Something's gotta give.

At any rate, when I see these stories about very talented people at the peak of their professions crash & burn, I'm not surprised at all--especially when people are nearing the end of their careers.  People have a certain outlet & self-identity, and then (especially in sports) when it suddenly ends, things go badly.  I call that Track A.  An addictive personality, plus fame/money, plus sudden availability of a ton of free time without direction & a plan/goal can turn out very badly.

People who can replace that old oultlet with something new and healthy can be fine--child actors or retired athletes who have a new "thing" to focus on---busness, foundation, develop a sense of spirituality or community, etc. usually do better.  That's Track B.  The folks who just have hours of free time with no direction & a ton of money usually don't.

Anyway, I liked the article.  From my personal perspective it's clear that Phelphs was headed towards Track A and at least so far it's clear he's at least discovered there is a Track B.  He may have one more Olympics left in him, but hopefully his brush with Track A taught him that he's gotta put in a "post-Olympics plan" together for how to add some structure and focus in his post-swimming life.

Swimming is weird, man. I swam competitively from 6th grade up to and including some in college. I used to HATE it, but I was good at it so I did it. There is a lot of time to think while in the water, stuck in your own head, not able to talk to anyone or hear much of anything. I used to really dislike that part of it. I was bored.

When I get in the water now as an older man it is really calming and relaxing and I enjoy my time with my own thoughts. I can see how this could be a really good thing or a really bad thing to any person with demons depending on your age/maturity or willingness to think through the reasons for the demons.

Swimming is tough and awesome.

I'm glad Phelps is back in control. I will always root for the guy for a number of reason and of course due to his ties to Michigan.

Good for him. Hope he wins all the golds.