“Rain, oh rain my solace and peace. Grant me a night of quite solid sleep.” This was the mantra of a particular insomniac named Zephyr. Now Zephyr was a young lad about the age of 20 who simply wanted a good nights rest and to perform his music for the entire world to see and hear. As it turns out its hard to focus without any sleep so night after night he hoped and prayed for a good nights rest but nothing work. He tried counting sheep, dogs, horses, parrots [that got tricky with each one saying there number repeatedly], cows, ducks, moose, cats, ninjas, samurai, that green ghost from the Ghostbusters film, and so much more. Nothing worked and as time passed by he was growing less and less focused so things were starting to slip through his hands like his musicianship. Learning all the instruments he had up to that point was a challenge and feeling it slip away as he was engulfed in a sea of confusion night after night was more nerve racking than anything else. One night he just couldn’t take the silence of his room so he went for a run. Angry confused and fatigued he thought this run wouldn’t last too long but as he took each step and listened to his favorite Steely Dan song he felt it all slip away. The anger confusion and fatigue faded into the background. So he ran and that night he reached about 4 miles and decided to stop not knowing where he was, so he turned around and went right back the way he came again faded into his music concerned with nothing else but the next step he was taking.

Finally he reached his start point and sat down on his front steps to enjoy the evening breeze. At this point he realized the toll that had just been taken on his body, being a larger build of a man but still muscular had its perks but the sheer burn he felt was overtaking so he dragged himself upstairs to his bed, peeled off his clothes and faded into the sweet surrender of sleep. ”Note to self, Don’t ever be an idiot and run so far then remember you have to now go back…” said the undoubtedly sore man after his alarm clock startled him to consciousness. Getting out of bed he felt refreshed and calm, not lacking in the focus department either. Between the dramatic awakening and his departure from his family home he was 3 times as fast as usual and seems to have an array of confidence around him that was noticeable for all around him. This was definitely new as Zephyr was the quiet thinking type who kept to himself. Either way after his return from a combined day of school, work, and church Zephyr had an acquired a nickname he quite enjoyed from a girl he always had a bit of a crush on. From the moment it reached his ears from her mouth to his declaration of name-change was almost instantaneous. He declared proudly amidst his peers at his local college, “I shall be called Big Z from this point on. Thank you for your time.” Now only a girl he’s adored since grade school could get him to do that. After that moment he spent the rest of his day wondering about the girl and why today of all days she spoke to him, so he credited it to the confidence boosting run! That being said when he got home not only did he run but he did weights and plyometrics [using scenery around you in a fitness activity]. Afterward he felt stellar, and just like before when he put his head down to rest, off to sleep he went. This night there was a train that came through town so even after his monstrous workout he was awoken by the train passing loud and clear, so he did what any other completely sane person would do. He got down on all fours while it passed and did push ups till it was finished, the problem with that was that night was the really long cars that have all types of things being taken with them so he did allot of push ups. And much to his enjoyment minutes later he was lulled off to sleep by the sound of silence. The next morning not only did he arise with his new vigor but an array of happiness that was contagious. So he went through his daily motions and eventually got to his place of higher education only to see his long time crush waiving at him from her elite group of friends, so he waived back with his bright and vibrant smile. His crush smiled at him and her friends seemed to know something was up because they began whispering and checking Big Z out. He noticed this and without hesitation his hopeless romantic ambitions kicked in so he went picked her fresh flowers from a spot local to the college, the proceeded to design a card describing the most romantic date he could conjure. He printed it colored it himself and stuck it in the bouquet. He then walked the bouquet to the table of all of the girls friends and said proudly, “These are for you; don’t forget to read the card…” he said with a dashing grin. “You ladies have a Lovely afternoon.” He preceded through his days motions flawlessly from that point on. Later that day while he was preparing to go for his workout his phone shouted, “AUTOBOTS TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!” He had gotten a text message, from her. It read, “Wow your card was adorable and I’ve never had someone treat me that kindly ever. Plus to walk up and do it while I’m with my friends takes some confidence, so I’m going to take you up on your offer this weekend [smiley face]. Let me know when and I’ll clear my schedule.” With a digital signature that read, “Dizzy M”. This message meant the world to him first because she said yes but secondly because the nickname he’d gave her upon first meeting her was her digital signature. Excited and amped more than ever Big Z ran a whopping 7 miles out and back, with a rather sizeable smile plastered to his face. He knew that simply starting something new had sparked a string of positive events in his life and he was not only happy about it but excited to see where life would take him next.

With all the focus and joy he had recovered from his new routine he now was picking up things on his guitar even faster than ever. So before his date he wrote a song for Dizzy M. He couldn’t have tried to express how beautiful she is inside and out in a more beautiful way. He played it for her at the final leg of their date which was a bon fire at his place roasting marshmallows making smores and keeping close under the blanket both making sure not to let go of the other even for a moment. They both knew it was Love and it would grow and keep them for a long time. At that moment Big Z took a look at the last few days of his life and simply couldn’t believe that a little confidence boost from a little run would not only get him the sleep he so desperately needed but it would lead him to the Love of his Life who he would later marry and start a beautiful family with. He knew that this was surely a blessing and was prepared to fight for her through thick and thin along with keeping up his routine so that he could pass this oh so tiny but oh so monumental hobby to his children .