Paul Wozniak Makes Amends for His Alcoholism, Part 3 of 3 [VIDEO]
When I decided to stop drinking, I was introduced to the idea of making amends.
Making amends, in this case, is not about saying that I'm sorry for being rude or stupid. It's about finding the people that I truly harmed, determining where I had really gone wrong, and making it right. In this way, by really facing the wreckage of my past, I hopefully make enough spiritual progress that I learn to find euphoria in living, instead of in a bottle.
I was very lucky. While I may have been very stupid and inappropriate many times, I didn't leave a stream of destruction in my wake. Many alcoholics can't say the same. I thank God for my good fortune, but I still had some making up to do.
Regret is not what I'm feeling when I think about the past, and it is not really the reason why I did the activities I did in this documentary. I don't regret my alcoholism. Without it, I wouldn't have learned to learn, and I might not cherish what I have now so deeply. While this is truly not about regret, I did choose drinking and partying over other paths, and people who knew it should have been looking at me thinking, "You little punk. You are so talented and all you do is party. Lame."
So, I decided that I needed to do something to make my own amends with myself and with God for making beer drinking my main passion for 20 years, when it could have been so many other things like swimming, skiing, golf, singing, acting, or all of the above. I wanted it to be something that involved sports, because I liked the idea of slightly painful 'penance' aka workouts where I had to kick my own ass every day for a long time. That it did, as you can see in Part 2 of The Redemption Race.
If you need to be caught up, here are the earlier episodes.
My thanks go to all the businesses and people that helped me create The Redemption Race. I couldn't have done it without them.
Star Painter Productions and Drew Bankston
Drew did it for a very small return. He worked very hard and patiently with me, and I am so glad to call him my friend.
Advanced Healthcare Physical Medicine and Dr. Nathan Irwin
Dr. Irwin loves to work with athletes, and he is the one who kept me healthy through the intense training that it took to pull this off. I was able to see him for adjustments, spinal decompression and massage as much as I needed. And I needed a lot.
The Fort Collins Club, Todd Heenan, Wendy Mader and Theresa Rudel
Todd Heenan supports me in everything I've ever asked for his help on, and this was no different. In addition to allowing us to use the Fort Collins Club as a shooting location for the interviews, he worked out a deal with his best personal trainers to be in the documentary, and to have them help me prepare for this challenge.
Theresa Rudel
Theresa Rudel has been an athlete all of her life and she helped me with my balance, strength and coordination. She is an amazing trainer who helps people of all walks of life achieve all kinds of goals.
Wendy Mader and T2 Coaching
Wendy Mader is a record setting, champion triathlete ( 2008 Ironman Overall Amateur World Champ), and an amazing coach. She teaches pros how to be better and takes newbies from nothing to racers with no problem. She worked on my conditioning, running technique and speed. She set me up on an email system, and like clockwork the new workout would be there...every day. It seemed like too much sometimes. :)
Post Paradise, Nick Duare and Amy Marie
I needed great music, specifically a great workout track, and Dani Grant from Spokesbuzz hooked me up with Nick Duarte and Amy Marie from Post Paradise. I have since become a big fan of their music, and even bigger fans of their giving hearts. I listened to a couple things from them and settled in on the cello heavy Bach inspired rock track Interlude: Bach Cello Suite that acted as sort of a linker from the first half of their their great record The New Normal to the second. But I needed it to be longer. I needed a little something here, a little something there, and I needed Nick Duarte to do it. He did, and it makes the workout montage look and sound great!
My wife
I put a lot of time into the shooting and editing of this documentary, not to mention training every day. Sarah supported me the whole way, and has encouraged me to work through the idea of releasing something of such a personal nature.
If you notice, the documentary was shot a few years before it was posted. Part of that is because editing is difficult. Mostly, it was because I was afraid to put it out there. She pushed me through it, which I think says a lot for her courage.
Check out her website, the Blissful Seed.
More From Retro 102.5
