Time for New Year's resolutions and here are mine:
1. Stay in shape.
2. Stay debt free.
3. Run a marathon.
4. Play more music.
5. Get a rating in fencing.
6. New job / home / both.
Staying in shape is a pretty modest goal, but I made a lot of progress on fitness this past year. I'd like to keep it. Putting numbers to it, I'd like to keep my weight below 190, with regular workouts. Diet is always problematic for me because of all the time I spend on the road, but as much as possible, I'll try to avoid eating junk. Or at least eat more intelligent junk. If I end 2015 below 190, I'll be pretty happy with this one. My bloodwork is phenomenal and my health is the best it's been in over a decade. I need to keep this up.
Staying debt free should be a little easier. I rent my condo, and will probably rent anyplace I live. So, there's no real need to even have mortgage debt for the time being. The trick will be to avoid buying too many toys. (Or avoid buying toys at all... I don't have time for all the toys I already have.) This is one of those goals that is really just maintaining what I already have, but it will take mindfulness and effort.
Sort of hand-in-hand with staying in shape, I'll be training for a marathon this year. I won't have a time goal. (Though, probably something in the neighborhood of 4:15 to 4:30 is realistic.) One of the reasons 2014 was so awesome fitness-wise is that I have been able to run pain-free for the first time in years and years. So, I'll celebrate that by lacing up the trainers and putting down some real mileage. I have no goals related to running speed at the moment. If this plays out like it did last time I got sorta serious about running, I'll get a big speed bump after my marathon recovery. So, if I have any speed-related goals, they'll need to wait until 2016.
My life has been covered by a veil of general yuckiness since 2012, but that veil is lifting. It's mostly gone at this point. I always feel better when I exercise and play music. So, I need to start playing more music. I'll be setting up my piano and playing a bit here and there. I don't know that I'll perform or record, but I at least want to be regularly playing, now. Maybe 2016, I'll have a recording or performing goal.
I picked up one new hobby in 2015: fencing. I absolutely love it. Started in very late July with some classes at a local community center. I've fenced in half a dozen tournaments this year. If you do well enough in certain types of tournaments, you can get "rated". At this point, I'm rated "u" or unrated. Meaning I haven't achieved anything rating-wise. Sometime in 2016, I'd like to see if I can do well enough in a tournament to get an E in my weapon of choice: epee. Fencing has been a blast and I've been looking for a sport. I guess running is a sport, but this one is a lot of fun in a way that running really isn't. Haha! (Never particularly loved running... I just love everything about running other than the running, itself.)
Lastly, I'll have to make a change this year. I'm hoping to find a job closer to home (Toledo), or if not, then a job closer to family or friends (Dallas, Cleveland or Phoenix.) If I can't do any of those things, I'll be moving down near to Dayton so I can have a more normal semblance of a life. Driving from Toledo to Dayton and paying for hotels has been draining in every imaginable way. I can't really keep it up much longer. Of course, this means I'll have my son for half the Summer, instead of for every other weekend. It's not really better or worse, near as I can figure. It's just a different challenge.
2014 was a great year for me. I'm happier in so many ways. I've met a ton of great people. Had some fantastic experiences. Got in shape. Picked up a new hobby. It was just super all the way around. If I make the same sort of progress in 2015, I'll be pretty darned happy.
Really, my life is mostly back on track, except for two very important things. I don't live close to my son, so I still spend less time with him than I did before my life cratered in 2012. He graduates High School in 2019. I have only so many years with him. So, I want to make the most of it. The clock is ticking on this one and when he graduates High School and is off to college, this chance will have passed. All I can do is continue to do the best I can. Forgive myself for what I can't, and just keep moving forward.
Career-wise, I'm very happy for my job. I love it and am lucky to have it. However, I'm nowhere near where I was, either professionally, or when I owned my own business. That's a work in process.
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