Start where you are!

I was forty eight years old. I had been working hard in a physically demanding job since I was twenty five. My love of chocolate chip cookies and milk, potato chips, cigarettes and iced tea was starting to takes its toll. Pushing 200 lbs, I knew it was time to do something. As a young man I ran and played racquetball almost religiously. In my mind I was just carrying a little extra weight on the same body I had thirty years prior. Oh, how wrong I was. It was almost comical…wait, it was comical to anyone that may have watched. In thirty years I had forgotten how to run. Looking back I remember how confused and saddened I was when I struck out for that first mile. Nothing worked. At least not like I remembered it. I ran like a gazelle in my youth. Now I ran like an old man with a thigh cramp. Only problem was I didn’t have a cramp. It was sad, and I hoped no one saw. The good news is that it got better. I say all that so you know that you can start wherever you are. Whatever you can do… you can do. It may seem small and insignificant but it begins to build a head of steam. Just like a child learning to walk. It’s not that long before they are walking, then running. In your mind it may seem like a challenge too great. I can tell you it is not. The beginning of a long and rewarding journey starts with one step. Whether it’s a trip down the hall or a triathlon they both start with the first step and a resolute mind to see it through. You can do this! Start where you are and keep going. When I started running that day, I suffered from the affects of smoking for thirty years. I kept going. I felt the extra weight resisting my efforts. I kept going. I would like to say I went daily, like a champion into battle. It wasn’t that way or that pretty. But I kept at it and before you know it I felt better and didn’t look like a hobbled goat running down the road. Start where you are. Go easy. Just start and keep going. Set some achievable goals (more on that in a later post) and enjoy your small victories. Before you know it you’ll be enjoying a life of living better and all you had to do was GET OUT THERE!