Falling Into Place

Those of you who know me pretty well (and even not so well), know that I'm an optimist at heart.  I like to believe that good things happen to good people.  I like to believe that everything will eventually be ok.  I like to believe those things, but it's not always true.  I've generally been a good person, and I've had a lot of crap happen to me.  I've had a lot of adversity to overcome.  I've came out, for the most part, on top.

Without trying to sound terribly mean, I've heard that my ex-wife's boyfriend has said "looks like the better man won."  I whole-heartedly agree, but it's not him.  I'm a better person than I ever was when I was married.  That's not to say that my ex-wife held me back, or was a hindrance.  Well, that's what I'm trying not to say at least.  Since the divorce, I've been forced (kicking and screaming) to take a hard look at myself.  I've said before, I didn't like what I saw, and I really didn't.  I've changed my outlook completely on life.  I've started taking better care of myself and others in my life.  I'm just better off, but I really didn't start that journey until about six months ago.

Rewind the clock back to October 2017.  I was overweight.  Things weren't going my way.  I was unhappy, and by proxy made others around me unhappy.  To those people, I apologize, and I've tried to make up for it ever since.  I wasn't as heavy as I have ever been (which was 230 lbs, btw), but I was overweight.  I was around 215 or so and 30% of my body was fat.  I've came a long way.  I now weigh in at 172 lbs and 14% body fat.  How did I do it? Diet.  Exercise.  The most important of the two? Diet, hands down.  I switched to a high protein diet and well, I go to the gym a lot.  The muscle building has helped to mask what fat I have left on my body.  The diet though was the part that slimmed me down so much.  I now have that "V" shape that athletes strive for.  I'm not where I need to be, but, hey, I'm not done.

Six Month Progress Picture

A Few Progress Pictures

Again, am I where I want to be? Physically? Emotionally? Nope.  It's good to have goals, and one goal that I have is to simply move forward.  

Until next time dear readers...

Balance

Ready for another cliche that rings true? Life is about balance.

Think for a minute.  Your emotions say a lot.  Love, hate, happy, sad.  The primary emotions are balanced.  In my life, I have been called many things. Nice, mean.  Jealous, generous.  Thoughtful, thoughtless.  Handsome, ugly.  Caring, indifferent. Loving, cold.  Strong, weak.  Smart, idiot.  Hard working, lazy.  See where I'm going with this?  Life has a balance, whether or not we realize it.

Why am I talking about this?  No particular reason, I was just trying to think of what I wanted to share, and this came to mind.  If we don't recognize the need for balance, then we risk not benefitting from all life has to offer.

I get a lot of feedback, as you know, and most are positive.  There are a lot of negative ones as well.  I have to sort through those and I look for what might actually be constructive criticism.  I admit, I've learned a lot about myself through those negative comments.  A lot of times people read what I wrote wrong.  Let me clarify, they misread how I wrote it.

I share a lot, and sometimes my tone doesn't translate well.  Let me be the first to say, I never mean anything in a malicious way.  I don't try to imply something without coming out and saying it, so if I offend you - let me know.  That is far from my intention.

Life is a continually learning experience.  To paraphrase Einstein, "the day you stop learning is the day you start dying."  There have been other quotes that say the same thing, but I like Al.  I like to think that I learn something everyday, even if it's just a little thing.  I like to think I learn more about myself everyday.  Lately, I've been more or less happy with who I am.  I am always trying to improve, and if I talk about that, please don't think it's hubris or bravado, it's just me, telling you about me.  I've throttled it down quite a bit, but considering the feedback I get on a regular basis, those updates help people more than hurt.  I've gotten many emails about how I've inspired someone to make a change.  That is awesome, and that is why I do what I do.  You guys rock.


Until next time dear reader...