Are You Noticing a Pattern?

Granddaughter Riland, a good reason for living!

Off an on, off and on. I signed in on the computer at the Y the other day and it said “Congratulations! You’ve been coming here for seven years!!” Oh, #$%@, are the words I used to congratulate myself as I looked down at my body and realized how tired I felt. Ever the optimist (or, eventually the optimist) I then thought, “Well, think how bad off you would be if you hadn’t sort of worked out for the past seven years.” Nice spin.

I don’t know what it takes to finally commit to something. A decision? Yeah. A decision made 100 times a day. My son desperately wants me to be around to watch his children grow. I do, too. My husband wants us to travel the world for years to come. I do, too. But, the fact is I just turned 60. My Mom died at 62. My dad died at 64 (smoking-induced lung cancer so that isn’t as much of a warning as my Mom’s death, but still). Those numbers can bring on some serious thinking and panicking.

How many times did I have to quit smoking before I actually quit? 100 times? I thought it would be impossible to quit. But, one day, I just did. I realized that knowing I had to quit was worse than actually quitting. I visualized myself so healthy and alive and it worked. It has been about 40 years since I smoked (ouch, guess I didn’t need to say that out loud). 

So, here I am, back from the doctor (again). This time it’s because my knee, hip and small of my back hurt so much I can’t sleep. But, the great news is that he prescribed physical therapy and I have really wanted to have somebody tell me how to work out without hurting myself all the time. At last. Nice spin.

Driving home from the doctor I called my son. He said, “You have to make your health the first thing you think of in the morning. You can’t put anything in front of it. You won’t have your work and your family if you don’t have your health.” Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who is at the grocery store right now buying all kinds of good stuff. I’m going to make an appointment with a PT ASAP. 

One day at a time. It works for other things, why not for changing my life? I have a VIVID picture of what life will be life if I don’t change. Now I need to find some fun pix to post around to inspire me. What do I want the rest of my years to look like, to be like? What do I want to accomplish? I know the answers to a lot of these questions. And that big huge stack of books on getting healthy all say basically the same thing: move, eat fruits and vegetables, cut out sugar, move some more, meditate and love. 

So, from “on again off again” to “One day at a time” and “Just do it.” I have a lot to live for. And, today, I will eat and live accordingly. No spin.