Feeling really good right now. Better than I can remember feeling in a long, long time. For those who haven't been keeping up with the saga, it's been a rough turn of events since about mid-2009. Lots of pretty awful stuff.
The worst part was the sensation that the bad stuff just kept coming and coming. It's not like just surviving a short-term event. It was like crappy things happened over the course of month after month after month. Just when I thought I was done with something, I'd get blindsided by it again. It was horrible.
Now, though, I feel like maybe, finally, the waves have subsided. Most of the bad news appears to be, finally and mercifully, behind me. At least for now.
Two things that I have really been neglecting have been my fitness and my music. Those are, coincidentally, two of my favorite things in the world.
It's just that the events of my life were so exhausting that by the time the day ended, all I wanted to do was dissolve into the couch and watch TV. Who knows, I guess I also had this nagging sensation in the back of my head that I wasn't entitled to enjoy those things since I'd made such a mess of the rest of my life.
The insidious thing about that is that, especially with exercise, you end up in a downward spiral.
Exercise makes you healthier, improves your mood and gives you greater endurance. When things are bad and I stopped exercising, all three of those things took a hit just when I needed them most.
Over the course of the past few weeks, I've moved some hand-weights into the condo from the detached garage. I've been doing a few reps of this and that. I just set up my rower and did a 10K row. I'm ready to get physically active again. It's been a long time.
Not sure what goals I'm going to have with this, other than just making myself healthier. We'll see. The trick now is to keep up working out regularly.
My doctor actually prescribed over the counter Omega-3 fish oil for me to take. I think it's going to have a positive impact on my bloodwork, but I also find I'm just not as hungry throughout the day, now, either. If the press is to be believed, this is a good supplement for folks who don't get much fish in their diet. I doubt it could possibly do any harm. And if the press is to be believed, it may do tremendous good.
The other thing is that I get a promotion at work again this year. It comes with a pretty big bump in pay. Things will be easier, financially, after that.
The upcoming promotion (not until August), and a pretty good tax refund also mean I could afford to start rebuilding my guitar collection. I'm actually playing again, and it feels good.
Really, the two things in my life I've ever done that resulted in me just getting lost in things and losing track of time are playing music and writing computer code. The computer code was seldom enjoyable because whether I lost myself in it or not, there were always deadlines to meet. The guitar, though, is something I love to do.
I was going to take a guitar with me down to the hotel in Dayton where I spend my week-days, but the temperatures lately have been around zero. I am afraid it may damage any instrument I might take down. Once my tax return arrives, though, I'm going to buy a little portable keyboard and road-case. I figure that'll handle extremes in temperature better.
Also, my goal was to get my credit rating back into the 700s, and at least according to one service, it is. I'll continue rebuilding. My near-term goal (sometime in the next 3 years) is to get back to where I can get 0% promotional financing on a new car. I just hope my current hoopty can hold out a few more months or years until that happens.
So, I don't know what it is that triggered things, but things got better all in a hurry. During these past few years, things were pretty hard. I was barely holding it together. My main goal throughout was to not-fail my son, and I hope I did a good job of that. Now, though, I have the energy to devote to making myself a better person.
I'm still not entirely sure what the future holds, but I feel like I'm back on track. 2012 was the year everything fell apart. 2013 was the year it took all I could do to stop losing ground. 2014 may be the year I start making strides forward.
So, goals for this year are:
1. To play music every week
2. To try and exercise every day
3. Stay debt-free
4. Keep making progress professionally
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