Bear Bones

Greetings Bears!

 

Some of you may have noticed that BuzzedBeef did not make an appearance in the blog last week.  There's a good reason for that:  I honestly had nothing worthwhile to say.  The last few weeks have found me in a terrible, almost debilitating slump with no motivation to do anything save what I absolutely had to do.  I've been moving as though I was an automaton--up at 4, out the door by 4:30, work from 5 to 11, a two hour break to run errands, back to work from 1 to 6:30, home to eat and shower and go to bed.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.  I haven't put in any kind of decent workout in almost a month now.  My diet has screeched to a halt.  I don't mean that I am eating junk--I mean I hardly eat anything anymore--I've been existing on coffee and not much else.  So when it came time for me to pen an article last week, along with fatigue and no motivation to do it, I felt like I was a poor example to talk about fitness.  I had nothing positive or inspiring to talk about.  Then it occurred to me that this journey isn't always going to be roses in May.  Perhaps talking about the setbacks is just as important as talking about the victories.  After all, the laws of physics do maintain that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  And overcoming the obstacles we bears face in our quest for fitness IS something worthy of discussion.

 

Now, I am certainly not unique in having a difficult schedule.  I know that I am not the first, nor will I be the last, man in the world to put in a fourteen hour day.  As a child, I remember a friend of my mother's who owned a working horse and cattle ranch say that they worked from "can to can't."  What did that mean?, I asked.  It was a simple answer:  "We start as early as we can and we work until we can't."  This was hard, sweaty, back-breaking labor.  And here I am grousing about sitting at a desk and folding a few towels at one job and sorting mail and wrapping a few packages at another.  Am I really that tired and unmotivated?  Have I really worked from "can to can't?"  Or am I just making excuses?  Personally, I am going to put my money on the latter.  It's so easy to make excuses for not going to the gym.   We ALL do it.  I've done it in the past and I am doing it now.  I'll do it again in the future.  I'm not so naive to believe that I won't. 

 

So, what do I do?  What do we all do to get around these excuses and get our ample derrieres back on those benches?  Personally, I'm going to focus on my feelings.  I'm going to think about the sense of accomplishment I felt after each workout.  I'm going to think about the guy who passed me on Market Street one day and said "HOT" as he walked by.  I'm going to think about the day I got into those waist size 34 jeans I had been dreaming about.  I'm going to think about my Mom, who died when I was 15 because she didn't take care of herself.  And I am going to think of my Dad, who in his 40s, gave up smoking and drinking and who is, now in his 70s, healthy and active and vital and in it for the long haul.

 

We are but a few weeks away from closing the door on AD 2007.  A new year is fast approaching as is the time we all make our new year's resolutions.  Perhaps it is fitting that I have experienced these feelings of sloth and a lack of focus in these waning days of an old year.  Maybe I needed a setback to reinvigorate me for a new DAY ONE.  2008 is a leap year.  We've all got one extra day to get it right.  And so I will ask you to join me on this journey again and take a leap of faith in this coming leap year that we'll all be the best bears we can be--for each other, for ourselves.

 

Until next time,

 

 

Hugs (and licks if you want 'em)