Staying Alive

Last week I celebrated my birthday ... something I normally enjoy doing, but this year gave me a bit of  a pause. I turned 55 this year and in my mind that is very close to 60 and for some reason I am afraid of 60. So, as I inch closer, I am not excited. Sadly I have a friend who did not make it to his 55th birthday. I know others near my age that have suffered from strokes and blood clots and other very serious things already.

But, then I decided that my focus was wrong. I need to look at what I am doing at 55 that I wasn't doing before or what kinds of things I have done so that I can make a strong showing at 60 and at 65 and at 70 and so on....

In 2007 I decided that life was catching up with me and if I didn't do something drastic, I was in for some real trouble. I joined Weight Watchers (good people) and over time lost about 60 pounds. That is a good thing. As a result of the encouragement from WW, my wife and I started buying "workout clothes" and we started walking on a regular basis. Since 2007 we have spent several hundred dollars on good shoes and have walked hundreds of miles. 

I began running some and working out with some friends and got to the point where I entered a half marathon. I could never have done that before. I have climbed South Sister, the third highest peak in Oregon, twice .... you can read about that in another blog post. In the past I have done P90X workouts and am doing them again with my new son-in-law. 

Perhaps the crowning achievement to this point was that my wife and I walked the Camino de Santiago this last fall; 500 miles walking across Spain. For us it was a 42 day trek; challenging and rewarding both. I could have never done that a few years ago. 

So, am I getting older? For sure .... but can I keep going, keep pushing, keep doing what I can do to be as healthy as I can be? Yes, because no one is going to do it for me. I am responsible for me. 

I think I remember that from my kindergarten teacher!