“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery and isolation. Isolation is a gift… All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it… And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds… and it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.”
~ Charles Bukowski
This year, for a number of reasons I have decided to work on my physical aspect. Over the last couple of rather taxing years, I had let myself become rather sedentary and ate a lot of my frustrations. I had started smoking again and was up to over a pack a day. So once January hit, I decided I would take action.
1) January – I quit smoking cold turkey.
2) February – Diet and more activity. I stopped eating by eight PM. I stopped eating cheese. I started drinking lots of tea both to suppress appetite and to clean the body. I walked 10,000 Steps a day. I lost about 13 lbs and achieved my goal weight for the month.
3) March – Continue Diet and increase exercise. I am up to 15 pushups twice a day. I have been riding my bike every day that the sun allows. I am up to 12,000 steps a day. While weight loss has slowed a bit I feel my body regaining its overall form.
These might seem like some what minimal goals. I purposefully chose goals that would not result in injury. I have, in the past, overcommitted and ended up unable to exercise at all and I wanted this to all be doable. It hasn’t just been a matter of extensive effort but that of committed every day constant effort and it is paying off. The next steps will be a yoga class and the gym at least 3 times a week. One step at a time
Blessings, G
Serpent’s Arena by G A Rosenberg 
Cancer Rising by G A Rosenberg 