2012

The year 2012. Holy Crap! I remember as a child thinking the year 2000 was so far away. It was like the stuff Sci-Fi movies were made of. I remember having to ask my mom what Prince's song "1999" was about. I didn't get why there would be any more parties that year than any other. As I grew older, and people started talking about the new millennium, Y2K and the end of the world, it all seemed so ludicrous to me.

Here we are now, firmly in the new millennium and it blows my mind a little. My kids have never known the 1900s. They talk about them as we used to talk about the 1800s. A lifetime ago. When I mentioned to Boy 1 the other day that his parents were actually born in the 1900s, I thought his eyes would completely bug out of his head. Way to make Mommy feel young there, kid!

Each new year brings the promise of something bigger, something better. It's a fresh start. A clean slate. I reject that. Why does Jan 1 hold any more promise than say....April 25? Or Sept 7? Or any other random date? If you want to change your life, do it now, no matter the calendar.

I don't typically do resolutions. Resolutions imply big changes. They imply there is something wrong that desperately needs to be fixed, and while I definitely have some things that I could do better, I prefer to focus on goals. With that said, I bring to you my goals for 2012. I have two (well, two that are relevant to this blog). Ready? Are you sure? Here we go:

1. Run a Half Marathon
2. Do a Pull Up

That's it! Nothing about weight loss. Nothing about numbers on a scale. Nada. So, for the half marathon, I'm not picking one. I have one in the back of my mind, but it's not set in stone. See, I'm going to start running. I have to start over from zero. As in zero miles. Blah. So, I'm going to run. Then I'm going to run a little further. Once my mileage is consistently in the 5-7 miles range I'll pick a race. I'm going to do it smart this time. In the past I've decided I wanted to run, so I ran. I neglected every other aspect of fitness (namely strength) and ran. Then I got hurt. Each and every time. I'm beginning to wonder about myself! It may take awhile, but I do eventually learn my lessons!! I need to keep my body strong. I'm not a lithe little 100 lb runner than can literally bounce across the finish line. My bones and my muscles need to be conditioned to carry my weight and do so healthily, without injury. I will focus this year on all aspects of fitness, with the final goal of being 13.1 miles. Secondly, I've never done a pull up in my life. I've always wanted to, but all of my strength in my athletic years was in my legs. I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the weight room (see above), so I thought I'd work on the one goal I've had for most of my life: a pull up.

So, there you have it! With these two goals reached, weight loss and improved health will just come. I need to stop focusing on fixing what's wrong, and start working towards what I want to be right.

Have a wonderful day full of love, relaxation, a little football and maybe even some sweat! Happy New Year!!

Cheers,

Jess