I’m not a gym bunny.
Would rather stick my nose in a novel than perform crunches on a stability ball.
But there were promises made. Promises about wellness. Promises to tone up and pound down. Regrettable promises that spilled unchecked from my lips during dinner parties with friends and career farewells with colleagues wishing me well in retirement.
As an introvert, my wish for a super power would be the simultaneous redaction of statements made while under the spell of unsupervised visits from my impetuous, extroverted alter ego.
But you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.
So here we are.
One solid opportunity to reverse a lifetime of bad habits – eating, exercise or otherwise. We get only one retirement. If we don’t push past the avoidance – establish right-minded habits – we’ll be carrying a ton of extra weight, both physical and psychological, on that long climb up Jacob’s ladder.
Yesterday morning, to circumvent what might otherwise have seemed inevitable, I began what I’ll loosely call a regimen, fully recognizing one must do something more than once for it to be called a regimen.
I walked.
Uh-huh. I know what you’re thinking. He did some sort of sissy promenade while listening to a podcast of Oprah’s SuperSoul conversation with Sheryl Sandberg. The one where she talks about leaning in to your life.
But you’d be wrong. It was Oprah’s talk with Nate Berkus on Designing for Your Spirit.
I sense you’re mocking me now.
Yes, at it’s core, the interview had little intellectual heft. After all, I’m doing a life makeover, not rearranging the furniture in my living room. But as I design my world, my way – probably for the first time – it’s essential for me to blow away the dust that’s settled over a lack of commitment to my body, mind and spirituality.
Ergo the wellness and exercise. Ergo the challenges to embed myself quickly into a second career addressing a life filled with unrequited passions. Ergo the obsessive need to give back in ways that fulfill me as they support others.
This first posting in my Digital Diary (www.howardfishman.net) will serve as a challenge to myself. A personal reality show open to all as I strive to keep pushing the refresh button until I get this thing right.
I’ll post with consistency to share the journey.
If something seems particularly relevant or ripe for exploration, I’ll link to other writings – including my own – on the topic.
I’ll soon welcome you to my new blog, BoomerRising! – a curated site where I’ll share the spotlight with other writer’s offering value to Boomers pursuing an aggressive agenda toward contentment.
Mostly I want to have fun sharing with you the ups and downs of refining what’s already been a pretty damned good life.
Along the way it would be great to hear back from you regarding your own challenges, your own redesign. Because, after all, it’s about our combined experience as we move through life.
Oh….yesterday’s walk…4 miles!