"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
Baltimore-based Olympian Michael Phelps quotes poet Rumi in a new Instagram post that seems to mark the one-year anniversary of his Sept. 29 arrest for DUI.
"This day a year ago I found myself in a dark hole ..," 30-year-old Phelps writes. At this point in my life today I can't be happier !!! My life today with my fiancée and my career is better than I could ever imagined. Going through the thing I have gone through in the last year have changed my outlook on life."
As of Wednesday morning, the post has more than 18,000 "likes."
Last September, Phelps, who grew up in Rodgers Forge, was arrested for drunken driving for the second time in 10 years after he was stopped for speeding outside the Fort McHenry Tunnel. He pleaded guilty in December and avoided jail time, receiving a one-year suspended sentence and 18 months of supervised probation. He was previously arrested for DUI in November 2004 in Salisbury.
USA swimming suspended Phelps for six months. Since then, he has won gold medals at the US National Championships as he aims to swim at the 2016 Olympics. In August, Phelps scored an endorsement deal with Windsor Mills-based razor company 800razors.com.
In February, Phelps announced his engagement to Nicole Johnson, a former Miss California.
Fans have added message of support to the Instagram post. "Keep it up," writes one. "Do whatever you have to do to stay out of that dark place. #fan."
