A Fresh Start
It’s 2:00 AM, and I’m about to lose an hour as I set my clock forward. I’ve just come through one of the most challenging work weeks I’ve ever experienced. I’ve discovered that I’ve gained ten pounds since I hit the lowest weight from my doctor-recommended weight loss a few years back. These all were somewhat challenging things to deal with, but the thing that pushed me over the edge was spending an hour arguing with an idiot I didn’t know on Facebook. It was in those moments that I realized what little control I’d been exercising over my life. I am in need of a fresh start.
As part of my fresh start, the first thing I’ve decided to regain control of is the way I spend time online. If I’m going to talk about things online, I’m going to do it on my own terms – here on my blog. I’m not going to give Facebook the many hours I’ve given it anymore because the satisfaction I get from it is nil. The funny thing is there are a lot of things I feel like I’ve not felt comfortable talking about on Facebook because there were so many people there.
I’ll remain on Twitter and Instagram for now. I’m not deep in the ‘Gram, and I still enjoy Twitter despite the anxiety I feel each morning as I open it and look to see the latest thing Donald Trump has tweet-blorted. My YouTube channel will remain active, too.
I’m going to have to exert more discipline over my diet, too. For years, I ate little to no sugar, but about a year ago, I gave in and began eating sugary snacks, here and there. It’s been all downhill ever since. This tweet was no joke:
I have an emergency box of Moon Pies in the trunk of my car.
— Earnest Pettie (@earnestp) March 1, 2017
You can’t expect miracles at forty. The other fresh start I have to employ is having a healthier lifestyle. I can’t march into forty with this weight and metabolism and expect things to just magically improve.
Because I’ve done it before, I know that you can lose weight by having a healthier diet and adding the slightest bit of exercise to my life. Certainly, I am capable of employing the slightest bit of exercise, and there’s got to be an easy way to have the diet I need.
The last thing I’m going to start doing as part of this fresh start is leaving work behind at 6:00. I enjoy my work and would be willing to work on it all day, but that’s unhealthy. At some point you have to be willing to draw a line to protect yourself, and today I draw that line at 6:00.
My favorite part is that no one will ever know I’ve drawn that line. Everyone else is usually gone by 6:00.