Oh, just a little story to go along with my above post....

I got my first Mp3 player somewhere around 2002 and at that time it was one of the newest electronic gadgets on the market.

At that time I was into running, even though my body resisted each and every stride I took.
The only way that I could run any distance was by removing myself from the pain my body was feeling and I found that the best way to do this was to pick out a spot on the wall and to focus on that spot with everything that I had in me.

Anyway, the first night that I took my Mp3 player to the gym, I put in my headphones, turned up the volume, and began my session of self inflicted torture, on the treadmill.

I was well into my run......focusing on my usual spot on the wall in front of me and was totally oblivious to everything else that was going on around me in the cardio room.

Well suddenly I got that feeling that something wasn't right.....
I wasn't exactly sure WHAT wasn't right but still, that feeling was there.
At that point I took my eye off of the "spot"..... at the same time realizing that I had been singing out loud....and glanced to my right. Sure enough, there was this really cute girl on one of the stairmasters, looking at me and laughing. (There was also a guy on one of the stationary bikes and he had this amused "what a dumb ass look on his face).

I can't being to tell you how embarrassed I was.
I have no idea how long I had been singing or what had come out of my mouth while singing.
I'm one of those people that never sing every word to a song. I'll just go along and maybe sing out a phrase, or a line or maybe even a word to a song, (besides, since i was running I know I was probably gasping, more than singing anyway).

Well after giving this girl a sheepish grin and shrugging I returned to my self inflicted torture while telling myself that I was a complete and total idiot.
This situation was made much better when the girl got off of her machine....walked over....mouthed the words "thanks" with a smile and walked out of the cardio room.

I still felt like an idiot but man......since I was still 50 lbs. overweight at the time that smile sure did feel good. :-)

So, I guess music hasn't always served me well, but for the most part it's been a good part of my life.