January 1, 2015:
There's a part of me that wants to change my main blog over
to this type of more personal journal.
Who knows, that might be far more interesting to my handful of readers
than the random crap I'm writing now--but that seems so egotistical. It would be like me saying that I'm so
interesting that folks would want to find out more about what makes me
tick. The truth is that people don't
really care all that much about what makes others tick. They might be interest in another person's
flaws because the imperfection of others always makes us feel better about
ourselves, but after that it seems like most of us lose interest in the behind
the scenes thought process of the people around us.
My big goal for 2015 is the same as my big goal for the last
15-20 years--greatly improve my health, primarily through the loss of weight.
That's mostly for prevention and quality of life purposes since I really
haven't had any sort of life threatening issues because of the weight. At my age, just turned 63, it won't be long
before the weight starts causing some sort of serious health problems. You play with fire long enough and you'll
eventually get burned. I'm starting off this year at 253.5 pounds, well into
the obesity category for my 5'10" frame.
It would be nice if some of that weight was offset by me being stronger
than the average person, but that's not the case. I'm at the lowest physical fitness level of
my life and that's saying a lot. My
fitness level isn't at the bottom of the barrel, but it's close. It's going to take a lot of work in 2015 to
get myself back to a level that makes me feel good about myself.
Being retired at the age of 63 certainly helps in the quest
to turn back the clock. I've got the
time to devote to rejuvenation. The
question that needs answering is do I have the willpower? The answer to that question has proven to be
a resounding "no" for a long time.
Even so, I have a good feeling about this year. That's how everyone should feel on January
1. It's probably how I've felt on the
first day of every year for this entire century so my good feelings don't mean
all that much right now.
Do I have a game plan for improving my health and achieving
a lot of other positive things over the next 365 days? Yes and no.
I would like to keep that plan as simple as these four words: "Do the right thing." Maybe that's too simple, but most of my
problems aren't caused by not knowing what to do. They are caused by simply failing to do the
things that should be done. Isn't this
failure to do the right thing the primary culprit behind most of our
problems? If I "do the right
thing" in regards to eating less, eating better quality foods, being more
active, etc, then doesn't the right result have to follow? My problems are generally the result of
failure to act, not failure to know what to do.
