Running Dive

WHO/WHAT

ERIC WEAVER

Seattle, Washington, USA

Life is short. It comes with all sorts of joys and thrills, as well as stunning losses and crushing sorrows.

I'm in the process of rewriting my life, rewiring my thinking, and reweaving who I am. I've already destroyed several bad family patterns. What's left is how I deal with people, stress, bad behavior and time pressures.

I don't want to spend the next 50 (or 5) years limping along toward home plate. I'd rather take a running dive.

This is a largely personal journey. You're welcome to read along if you'd like.

Dec
12th
2009

Sat

Okay, so, it’s just TIME.

I hate the gym. Why? I hate doing anything that feels like I’m wasting precious seconds of my life. Why? I have no idea. Must have died young in a previous life.

I’ve never “had” to work out in my entire life. I’ve always been wiry (hard to believe now) and nimble and fast. Strong, too - I could easily leg-press several hundred pounds.

But the reality is that it’s time to face the fact that if I want to live long enough to see my grandkids I need to get into the gym and invest the time doing something I hate. I’ve made drastic diet changes (all organic, no fast food except on an occasional freeway trip) and I’m walking more than I’ve ever walked in my life. I’ve dropped 12 pounds since moving to Vancouver but I have another 30 to go. That goal = gym time.

What is it about the culture of a gym that makes me hate it so much? The fact that gyms attract overly-competitive, testosterone-laded idiots—guys who hang out at the gym because they lack any other redeeming social skills? The fact that you can’t just work on yourself, by yourself? The “scene” aspects? I don’t know but I seriously hate the scene and would rather just work out by myself.

Most online commitments end up being good intentions never followed through. Takes a lot to rock someone out of their complacency and patterns. It’s too easy to stick with the comfortable. But I used to be lean and quick on my feet and one of the fastest sprinters I knew. That’s the vision in my head, the goal of where I want to be. I look in the mirror with my shirt off and it’s painful. Seriously. I was always the skinny guy. You’d think the shock of seeing someone in the mirror you don’t recognize would be enough to spur behavior change but it’s not. Not when stress, bills, taxes, deadlines, clients and yet another weekend of work looms before you.

It’s time to move this plan to the next level, to step up and change behavior. To fight against my long-held beliefs that this is a waste of time. Wish me luck!