Some observations and changes

I have been thinking a lot lately about my life. I would lay in bed until all hours of the night/morning asking all those questions in my head that people do, but not really coming up with any answers. Wondering why I'm not married yet, why my job frustrates me so much some days, why I can't just lose weight like all those people on TV*.. the list goes on.

The lack of answers frustrated the hell out of me, until I realized that I was asking the wrong questions.

John Lennon wrote in the song Beautiful Boy that “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.

I have spent the last two years of my life since I bought my house thinking about, talking about, researching and fantasizing about all the changes I want to make to my house.

As long as I can remember I have wanted to lose weight, But all I have done is told myself internally that I want to do it. I have never really tried to do it.

Since my mother passed away, I have always had this voice in the back of my head screaming loudly about how unfair that whole ordeal was.

Since the day I started at my job almost 4 years ago, I have been trying to find things that I could complain about.

I would be willing to bet that even my last relationship was affected in a major way by my skewed viewpoint of my life(that does not mean that I want to go back and try it again).

So what does all this have to do with anything? Just like any investigation, or discovery process, reaching your goal has to start by asking the right questions. If you want to get anywhere, you have to evaluate what you know, and take steps to move closer to that goal.

Regardless of what you may think, everyone's goal in life is to be happy. whether that is a family with 2 kids, a dog, and a yard or something else.

That is now my goal: To be happy.

The hard part for me is that I don't yet know what will constitute success. So instead of saying that I will be happy when I have 3 acres, 2 kids, a wife and Benz, I'm going to look at it more short term. I need to judge my progress daily, weekly and monthly.

I want to be able to lay in bed each night and sleep soundly knowing that I didn't leave any cards on the table - that I did all I could to make my day a success.

If every week I can look back and honestly say I had more wins than loses, the week is a success.

If at the end of every month, I had more successful weeks than let downs, I am on the right track.

Starting immediately:

1)I am going to try to eat better.

2)I am going to start exercising(nothing too intense to start, but even if it is a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood, you have to begin somewhere.)

3)I am going to start actually having hobbies. I have a decent dSLR camera, and a whole lot of wilderness. I love to cook, so I need to learn how to do it in a healthier way. I am going to finish off the many side projects that are started, but nowhere near done, etc.

4)I am going to make more of an effort to keep my house in order. It's not messy, just lived in, and I realized that when my house is clean, I am happier.

That's all I have for now


I look at it this way. I believe Lennon. You can do all the planning that you want to make your life better, but you sure as hell better slow down once in a while to take it all in, instead of just watching the scenery pass you by.











* I know.. their results are not typical, and whatever snake oil they are peddling is no substitute for hard work and effort.