Looking At My Belly Button
OK. When you become lost, you can’t keep barreling on, hoping you will walk out of being lost. You must backtrack to the beginning. Seems that the holy books agree with that too. When you lose your way, you return. But an old man cannot return to his youth. There is nothing sillier than an old coot trying to be young again.
But God has allowed me to age without becoming senile. That is my blessing for this mild winters day in the great pampas of Central Texas. I fear senility more than death.
I want to return to functional health again, and so I have started a new regimen of eating, exercise, and mindfulness. I have allowed the indignities of aging weigh me down, and I really don’t want my exit from this life to be while infirm and incognizant.
So. For mindfulness, I have begun what is known as a ‘bullet journal’. It is sort of like a day planner and journal. Instead of letting the day unfold, I want to take a bit more charge of it. In it I chronicle even the most basic of life events, look at them with a gimlet eye, and delete, modify or accept them as they are. An example is this little missive here. I want to write each day, but move away from my usual gloomy introspection and back into observation. My ability to write coherently has suffered from too much navel gazing …
Eating is another matter too. My biology has continued on, while my attitudes about eating haven’t. I really don’t need a farm boy’s breakfast anymore, nor do I need to worry about putting on some weight for the hard winter ahead. A whole host of dietary maladies have forced that home on me …
That issue has been a bit harder for me to adjust to. A one-egg omelet with a ¼ slice of cheese just looks anemic on the plate. I need to remember to put breakfast on a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. One sausage patty is enough too. No. Really. It is. I may have to get something smaller than a 4oz juice glass. And just one slice of buttered toast? Man! This is going to be hard!
And I am a miserable failure on the exercise level. My goal is really very modest. Five minutes of treadmill walking, five minutes of dumbbells in the morning. Five more minutes of treadmill in the evenings. It isn’t like I have to give up my whole life to exercise. But I sure do resist even those modest goals.
But I am determined … I want to die healthy …
~r
Rusty's Armory 
December 23, 2020 at 10:59 am
5 minutes a day will make a noticeable change.
I got to where I couldn’t run.
I walked all summer for 30/day.
I can now run.
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December 23, 2020 at 11:04 am
Don’t know why I resist so much …
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December 23, 2020 at 12:12 pm
You need a ‘buddy’ to do this with. It does help motivate you. Grab a neighbor kid.
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December 23, 2020 at 3:22 pm
The autistic one, the schizophrenic one, or the one on parole?
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December 28, 2020 at 8:23 am
The one on parole. They would be used to moving quickly……
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December 23, 2020 at 11:33 am
I will be thinking about you walking on your treadmill. That’s what friends do for other friends – think about them. 🙂
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December 23, 2020 at 11:36 am
😉 Thinking is better than forgetting! I’ll accept that!
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December 23, 2020 at 12:21 pm
I’m with you. Dieting and exercising are so hard to kick start…. but dying healthy? That’s enough inspiration for anyone. Even me!
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December 23, 2020 at 3:15 pm
As long as “Killed by Kale” isn’t on the tombstone …
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December 23, 2020 at 1:30 pm
I’m glad you are taking on some new habits. I think as we get older we tend to become a bit “stale” and predictable. As for dying healthy… I am right there with you. I notice with each passing year I try harder to be healthier, change bad habits, eat better, exercise more , etc. It won’t keep the inevitable from happening but like you said, die healthy 😉 I like the goal of walking for five minutes first. That is the best way and you may find that after a few days, you will walk 7 or 10 or even 20. Just take it slow and you will be surprised.
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December 23, 2020 at 3:14 pm
Well, that was the idea … now for the ‘proof’ …
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December 23, 2020 at 9:39 pm
I thought about living forever but it scares me to death
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December 24, 2020 at 10:18 am
I am going to live forever 😉
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December 23, 2020 at 9:37 pm
I got so used to doing just 20 miles a day on the bicycle that I didn’t go any further this year…I need to break out of that in 2021…a couple centuries is on the table…and two slices of toast on those days
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