This year, 2010, has been a year of downs and ups for me.  It began on a sour note in January when I broke my fibula near my ankle, then rose to good times as I was able to remount my Harley and ride again in April, though I had progress with recovery very slowly so as not to re-injure my leg.

Then some down times again in June when my aunt almost died and I concentrated on getting her healthy again and able to live independently at home.  I do not consider it a down time when I was laid off in June, because I needed that nudge to leave my former employer.  Fortunately, I had the financial resources saved up to continue to live as I usually do, so a temporary job loss was endurable.  (And actually welcome…).

In August, I worked A LOT on our house.  I replaced 900sf of decking, four windows, three doors, two exterior deck privacy walls and rejuvenated that pear tree for the partridges.  Further, I bought and renovated a small fixer-upper house to rent to a community hero (a local cop).  I also did a number of minor repairs on several other rental properties, too.

Since my aunt’s condition had stabilized by August and much progress had been made on home repairs, I finally had time to lead some motorcycle rides, and go on rides with others.  I learned that I cannot serve as a Road Captain any more because I was spending five times as long to plan a ride than most others due to my horrible sense of direction (and that I get lost so easily, despite having a GPS!)  I will not have the time to do five pre-rides for every ride I may lead in 2011, so I stepped down as a Road Captain.  It was a great learning experience, and I appreciate having done that, but I learned my limits and have to live with them.

Life turned up significantly again in September when I was offered my dream job and accepted.  Then things went “on hold” while administrative matters were taken care of and I had minor surgery to repair a hernia.  Finally, the third week of November saw me begin my new life, doing what I do best, rekindling my career, and renewing relationships with people who I worked with from 1984 to 2004 in my “past life.”  (My job from 2006 to mid 2010 was sort of a “place keeper” because I knew that it would not be something I wanted to do until retirement.  It just paid the bills and kept me busy.)

Oh, and another good thing:  a transition in my community life has happened, where someone I mentored was elected to lead an organization for which I had served as President for the last six years.  It was definitely time for me to move on, and for me to step back and assume a role of “emeritus adviser.”

I cannot let the year go without acknowledging work that I have done on weight-loss.  It has always been a struggle for me, as I cannot eat “healthy foods” (that give me the shits) and I am definitely not a gym rat.  I was not watching what I was eating, and I know I was drinking too many sodas, and wasn’t exercising.  I had to work through some issues with my chronic condition which made the weight-gain a problem, too.  (Photo in December, 2009, on right).

The good news is that through the summer and fall, I focused on losing weight sensibly.  (Photo in December, 2010, on left).  I would go swimming once a week, which was not enough.  I began to walk … and walk … and walk … and now, every day, I walk at least two miles, usually four and on good days, I walk seven or eight miles.  I gave up drinking sugared sodas — and not being a coffee drinker, giving up my Cokes was really hard to do.  Coke Zero just didn’t work for me (more shits again).  Thank goodness I don’t drink beer, wine, or liquor, or the situation would have been worse!

I have always eaten fairly normal meals, but I am much more careful about my portion sizes.  It’s a good thing that I do not eat out at restaurants, as their portion sizes are often huge!  And finally, what seems to have worked is that I usually do not eat lunch, but keep my tummy filled with water-water-water.  All that ==> sum total:  I weigh 38 pounds less today than I weighed on January 1.  (I gained 14 pounds during my “down time” so I actually lost 52 pounds this year.)  Pretty good!  A very nice guy from Georgia just sent me a message congratulating me on my “new look.”  I tell ‘ya, it IS work, but not only do I think that I look better, I feel better.  More energy, vitality, and even better sex (enough of that, as this IS a G-rated blog!)

I will continue this routine of “walking and water” for the months and years to come.  It’s working.  I don’t think I will loose significantly more pounds than I already have, but I will work at maintaining the progression and try not to gain it back.  (And I did this all without a physician or nutritionist yelling at me.)

All-in-all, I can say that 2010 has been a major transition year for me, and it turned out well.  I remained focused on the positive, and worked to make things better for myself, my partner, my aunt, my family, my senior legion, my community, and those I care about.  I mean, after all, that’s what is most important — being positive and productive.  Nobody likes a negative noodle, so I vow to remain a happy, sincerely positive man.

Life is short: make the best of it!