One year ago today I was doing something I never thought I'd be doing: receiving the sixth out of six chemo treatments for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was a situation that I am grateful that I went through, but I pray that I, nor anyone else reading this, have to go through it again.
Fast forward to today and again I did something I never thought I'd do: I joined a gym. Don't worry, I'll pause here to allow you to regain consciousness from passing out.
**pause**
Okay, yes, I joined a gym. The same guy who has stated many times that round is a shape. The person who you only see running when someone or something is chasing him. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't actually see myself doing it. Physically exerting myself to the point of profuse sweating and/or exhaustion never seemed as good of a time as watching a favorite movie or TV show. But as I'm watching one of the many Planet Fitness commercials that aired between Christmas and New Year's Eve/Day, I thought to myself that the $1 down & $10/month deal sounded pretty good. Well, it sounded good if you're a person that enjoys that sort of thing. It seemed to me that anyone who said they enjoyed exercise was either deranged or was seriously trying to convince themselves of it in hopes that they might enjoy it eventually.
I can't say that I fall into either of those two categories yet. I'm still not convinced that I actually will like working out, but I'm at least willing to give it a shot. No one probably gave me a second look as I went from one piece of equipment to the other, getting an idea of what it does, but I felt slightly out of place. To paraphrase a quote I heard years and years ago, I felt like I was at a black tie party and I was the pair of brown shoes. Even those who didn't appear to be in the running for Mr. Universe still looked like they had an idea of what was going on. One good thing about the membership is that it gives you some time with a personal trainer to custom fit a workout for you based on what you hope to accomplish, as well as working around any physical issues or health problems. Hopefully I'm a quick study and will start looking as if I belong soon.
Perhaps it's just the feeling of needing to accomplish something great for a new year that's moved me to do this, but I just feel that if there's ever going to be a right time, this is it. Financially it may not be the best time, but even at $20 a month for the Black Card membership, that's relatively cheap for the benefits you receive. Plus, how am I going to enjoy eventually getting myself out of debt if I don't get myself healthy to be around for it? I've been stressed out for quite some time because of work, finances, the pressure of trying to be a good husband and father...oh yeah, HEALTH (see my first sentence in this blog)...and from what I've been reading, exercise is a great stress reliever. I'm hoping that this helps me not only physically, but mentally as well.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Well, there are actually several reasons. One, I thought it would make an interesting blog entry and I haven't written one since before Christmas. Two, I'm going to need your help somewhere along the way. Encouragement and accountability are a must when it comes to things like this, especially if you're not a person who can self-motivate. I don't expect any of you to follow me with pom-poms, cheering on every step, but a line telling me to keep it up would be extremely welcome. Some of you already do this for me and I appreciate every bit of it. I'm not saying I'm going to be the perfect fitness nut through all of this. Next door to the gym is a decent Chinese buffet, so I'm not going to always deny the teachings of one of my mentors, the late great John Pinette. Three, I want you to all know that I'm here for you to provide the same encouragement. It's always been easier for me to build up others because, as much as I like to grumble about people (hey, I'm allowed because I work with the public), I still like to see the best in everyone and be that crutch they need to stay standing. So if you're facing a challenge, no matter what kind, and you need some moral support, I'm here to help. I'm only a phone call, e-mail, text message, FB message, tweet, or blog comment away.
2015 will hopefully be full of great things for all of us and I hope this is one thing I'm doing to help it become of my best years in a while. I've been due for a good one. I think we all are due. Let me know if I can help you with that. I hope you all had a great Christmas, a great New Year's Eve and Day, and I wish you nothing but positives for the rest of the year!
