I made a new year’s resolution of exercising 5 days a week.
You know how it goes with new year’s resolutions:
Before you know it, it’s the second month of the year. Life’s coming at you from all fronts. And to be honest, you weren’t quite clear why you made that resolution in the first place. So it falls by the wayside.
That’s been my Standard Operating Procedure for a couple of … ahem, decades.
While the human body has an amazing ability to heal itself, I’ve ignored several little signals I’ve had from mine over the last few years to stop testing that. Given my slow yet steady horizontal expansion, the not-so-subtle digs from my kids & wife about said expansion, & the annual reminder from my doctor to get more active, all of which I’ve ignored, I’ve a feeling this habit is long overdue.
My resolution this year was to keep up at least one of my new year’s resolutions about my health. A couple of my colleagues have, quite likely without knowing it, been my inspiration for various reasons. Thank you Vicki & Alex!
So, in the first week back at work this January, I accompanied Alex to the local gym. A week of consistent attendance, thanks to these New Year freebie offers, & then I actually signed up. Matt has been a fantastic trainer, keeping me on my toes, back, stomach… and pushing me just a little bit beyond my comfort zone. About six weeks in, I’ve kept up this exercise habit nearly every day. See here for pictures of my six-pack.
Why bother sharing this?
This is an experiment of sorts. Putting it out there apparently increases the odds that I will keep at this genuinely important personal goal. When I want to give up, quietly, there will be at least a few of you good people who’ll ask how I’m going on this journey, & I will probably hate to have tell you I failed.
The second is a reminder to myself that it’s never too late to start on my (health) goals. This one was from my 2016 edition: it only took 4 years to work up the courage to walk into a gym. Luckily I’m still around to be able to pursue it.
Do you have any goals that have taken a while to start?
Also, a little inspiration of a different kind: