Maintaining Healthier Habits

Two weeks into the new semester, 29 days into the new year. I'm slowly getting reacquainted with my routine. The task of getting up at 630am is still not getting any easier. After spending years upon years waking up at 430am, 630am should be a breeze but when you go to bed at 12am and you're 10 years older, your body gives attitude.

I am deterred by the tightness in my quadriceps and calves every time I ride my bicycle on a slight uphill climb nine streets east of my location to school. Granted it's nine downtown city blocks, but the soreness in my legs and my out-of-breath status attest to my lack of cardiovascular health. A common state of an aspiring attorney attempting to grasp the concepts of thinking like one.

In this new year, I have not come through completely with my "change." I have half-assed the task of balancing school and health. Health pertaining to exercise and healthier choices for my daily diet. Thus far, I have been as I expected with school work and keeping up with reading and beginning the studying process sooner in the semester. As for health, the trend of failing to keep up with it, similar to my first semester, is evident. I have established a routine that would have me in the gym three times a week and swimming on the days away from the gym. Last week suffered its first speed bump, failing to either swim or lift for most of the week. I find it so easy to take a "rest" day more often than I am familiar with only a few years removed.

My minds desires for sleep over-power the need to exercise. Then again, the mind needs to stay sharp to absorb the material lectured and discussed in class. I spent this morning working out for approximately 2.5 hours. An hour in the gym and the rest in the pool. The feeling of starting the day off with a workout is refreshing and makes the day run smoother. Unless of course you do what I did today and just fell asleep for more hours than I had allotted for, which was zero.

As with everything we do in our present days, calculating the cost-effect of all our activities happen often times without acknowledgement. Working-out and being "in-shape" is correlated to being happier and healthier. Surely it must carry-over to my studies. I have a goal in mind, that by the time we finish the semester, I shall be in one of the best shapes I have ever been in my lifetime to this point. That may mean losing more pounds than what one would imagine, however, muscle weighs more than fat.

I struggle with healthier eating more than anything. I imagine this being the most difficult task in anyone trying to make changes to their health. I can't eat like I use to, content and quantity. It is evident at this point I eat less than half of what I use to while I was training. The content, however, hasn't varied as much as the quantity. There are just foods out there that just taste so delicious, its overwhelmingly difficult to give-up. Food is so necessarily evil.

External factors motivate my desires to change my body and develop a new lifestyle, but the internal factors struggle to maintain healthy habits. I maintain that I am one who has a relatively high level of self-discipline. Food seems to be my "achilles heel", where my self-discipline more often than not, goes flying out the window. I have always wondered, had law school fallen wayside, and graduate school never crossed my mind, would culinary school to become a chef have been my next option. I consider myself a "foodie," one who thoroughly enjoys the wondrous and delightful creations of flavor and taste by chefs alike. No matter the categorical type of food, I will at least try everything once, and if I end up enjoying it, I may return for more. Food, ugh, so delicious, yet likely unhealthy.

yum.

Wrestling My Thoughts Asleep

The Sleeper Hold is no match for my mind's will. I'm laying in bed, as seconds, minutes, and hours pass. I've laid awake for the past 3 hours, attempting to rest my mind, preparing it for tomorrows ventures. My lacking ability to fall asleep at this very moment has directed my attention back to my computer and onto the internet.

I read of others' desires to share their statuses on Facebook, wondering why their comments capture my attention and imagination. I'd love to have a trip booked for Europe, I'm amazed by a fan's ability to suppress boredom by building the Ohio State Buckeye football stadium out of Legos, no, I haven't watched sports dome on Comedy Central, but I shall put that on the list.

I've now "surfed" my way to a blog written by an old and close friend of mine. He is documenting his life-changing, perspective-altering journey in the Peace Corp in Kenya. He is a well-versed, highly-educated gentleman. (I'm full of adjectives at this moment). We shall call him Mr. PC. His last entry speaks of "goggles" both metaphorically and literally. Mr. PC and I spent many years competing against each other as well as being teammates. He may not remember this but over a decade ago, when we first met, he punched me in the stomach to "intimidate" me, probably because he felt I was a threat to him winning. We were literally both our biggest rivals but also closest teammates and friends. He influenced the "never say die unless you've given absolutely everything you have" mentality one may experience out of me when the situation calls for it.

Where was I before I got distracted with the backstory. Mr. PC is an inspiration, as I flip through his entries on his blog. He packed up everything he had in the States and joined the Peace Corp to travel to Kenya and provide assistance to build the infrastructure of the country. A two-year four-month commitment to the unknown. I can honestly say and believe we will never see the same Mr. PC ever again. Not a chance, not after what he is currently experiencing. Amazing. His insight and perspective will be one of my interest upon his return to the states. Until then, I can only imagine through his typed words.

30 minutes later, I'm still wide awake, still waiting it out against my mind and body to retreat to a dormant stage, allowing me to finally rest in the sleep I admittedly believe I deserve.

However, until that time is reached, I continue.

Ms. Artistic continues to write beautifully, whether in paragraphs, letters, or a poem. Her talent is endless.

Ms. Sunflower continues to ignore my platonic attempts to elicit a response. Under current circumstances, I feel as though she is a regret I've made in failing to maintain our friendship during what I perceived to be rather challenging times for both of us. She was in the process of deciding her future and career. Ms. Sunflower and I had a romantic past, and admittedly I had secretly hoped years ago that it may return, but we are all on our own paths, and sometimes paths no longer cross. Improbable but not impossible. I'm strangled by the curiosity and suspense as to the reason behind the blatant desire not to respond to any of my inquiries. It errs and twists the knife in the wound. Is it obvious my inability to move on with this issue I've constantly fueled to the point of destruction? The accelerant is slowly running out, hopefully the supply runs out before significant damage occurs.

Ms. U.N. was the one that got away. Things didn't workout because our distance combined with our naive nature and lack of experience in that situation was ultimately the downfall. She carried on as I had to as well. Fortunately, we have had sporadic communications that at least provide some sense of respect and natural interest in the other's life. She is driven and knows what she likes and wants. Her character inadvertently inspires me to strive and become a more well-rounded person.

Still awake, although I feel a slight exhaustion settling in.

I'm baffled as I re-read this entry, at the level of self-disclosure I have recently provided. My inhibitions have dissipated and I feel as though I don't have anything to hide, I am who I am. Things will play itself out as it always does, whether my words influence them or not, they ultimately will happen or lack thereof because it was meant to be that way.

Games may be fun at first but once you've played too many times, it gets old, boring and no longer worth while.

Nevertheless, as hour 5 ticks itself away... I shall attempt once more to apply the sleeper hold until success peers its illusive head... until next time knuckleheads.

It is a small world after all...

Good people surround themselves with other good people. Its a natural occurrence. Why else would you surround yourself with people who my negatively influence you to go down a wrong path. Good people have goals in mine, they have purpose, drive, focus. Disclaimer: There are people out there that are good in nature, that don't realize their goals, purpose, drive, or other admirable characteristics quite yet. If you're one of those, you're not bad people, just good but lost for the time being. Generally speaking though, this occurrence happens more often than not. We (yes, we, I include myself because I believe myself to be a good person surrounded by perhaps better people) keep each other accountable, whether directly or indirectly. By our mere presence, we keep others motivated and accountable through our actions, words, and emotions.

I am fortunate to be surround by great people. People that are motivated, driven, intelligent, and hard workers. Their actions influence me more than they realize. I evolve to become a better person everyday through these influences by such people. They are where they are at this moment because they chose to be, they had the desire, the will, to get themselves there and to make something of themselves. Life is not worth living if you are stagnant and unhappy. We are programed to obtain the ultimate emotion, happiness. Whether happiness is found in money, collecting material items, or doing what you love. Happiness is the end game. It is the absolute big picture.

We are taught that love and happiness go hand in hand. Everyone in their lifetimes should and will experience such emotions. If you experience love, most likely happiness will ensue. Unfortunately, vice versa doesn't necessarily work out. Don't get me wrong, if you experience happiness, love is without a doubt possible, maybe not consequently obvious like love resulting with happiness.

I write this because its most simple to relate ones life with an observation, which in reality just provides a better understanding.

I digress.

I recently got to spend time with two of my favorite people whom I have a long-standing friendship with. A friend of mine told me that her new years resolution was to create/form meaningful relationships with people. No longer acquaintances but actual friendships where one can rely on the other and have intellectual conversations with. Two of my favorite people are just that.

I met Ms. Artistic in undergrad at UC Irvine. Without going into detail, this period of time for her ended up becoming a very dark time and unfortunate. However, in my eyes, contrarily, it was a lifting time for me. Although I doubt I have actually ever told her this, but she was really the sole reason I survived my first year there and continued school. I had struggled with academics and swimming for the school, I questioned whether or not this was where I was suppose to be and what I was suppose to be doing. I was considering joining Peter Pan's gang of lost boys. She was my rock. Her support and uncanny ability to cheer me up and get my mind off anything and everything I struggled with was beyond me. She doesn't let me live down the time she scared me out of my shoes when she popped out of the refrigerator. I will admit during that time I had romantic intentions, probably from our ability to create that meaningful friendship from the start and the mutual support through our troubling times and adversity. Now she lives hours away but the dynamic and history in our friendship provide such that our conversations start back up right where we had once left it before. Without a hitch, a hesitation, an awkwardness, we are back to where we were. Chatting about anything and everything. It is undeniably easy to talk to Ms. Artistic. She is admirable and quite the creative cat. I can listen to her sing and play the guitar anytime anywhere. Ms. Artistic is a great person, a pleasure to be around, and I'm glad she is still apart of my life.

I met Ms. Writing Jeep a few years back while working at the Alternate Defender's office. Although we did not meet directly at first, but through our work at the desk we both occupied on different days, we quickly hit it off and established quite the friendship. We obviously shared the same interest, as she was upon the tail end of her JD degree and I was looking to begin mine. Beyond the generic greetings on our first face to face encounter, we shared many hours in the court room observing our favorite attorneys and attending lunches, discussing what I was to expect in law school and what I need to do or look out for. More or less it was like I was being mentored by Ms. Writing Jeep. Beyond law, we also shared a deeply rooted passion of writing and Dexter. I guess you can suggest that Dexter is a really well written show, thus reverting to just that both of us love writing and appreciate good writing as well. Our shared commonalities fueled the friendship to become all the more meaningful as we both enjoy each other company. Even though we hardly see each other or talk much really, I can always count on Ms. Writing Jeep to come through when called upon. Thank you for your words of wisdom, your guidance, and support.

There are a number of others who deserve the same praise in my life. I just felt under these circumstances, the fact I was able to see both over this last week after a long absence from either. My display of appreciation was necessary and warranted.

Ms. Artistic and Ms. Writing Jeep are just prime examples of how I am fortunate to surround myself with good people, who continually influence my mind, my character, and my being.

A New Year, A New Beginning

New Year, New Beginning, New Dreams, New Accomplishments.

I start 2011 having established myself in a new city and new surroundings. A year ago, I wrote about gaining perspective, writing about my fears, my struggles, and my new year resolutions. Looking back at those resolutions, the overarching theme seemed to be maturity. Be a new man, be an adult with responsibilities, goals, ideas, and less ignorant. Lets review:

1. Finish Application and get into Law school, (Check)
2. Be open, honest, bold, but respectful, (Check)
3. Continue swimming. Live that once healthy lifestyle you had, (Check for the first 8 months)
4. Eat better, eat less, (Kind of, and only for the first month)
5. Smile. Sing. Dance. Laugh. At least once a day, (Check)
6. Have an intellectual conversation with anyone at least once a week, (Check, when I had the opportunity)
7. Challenge your mind. Have people challenge your opinions, thoughts, and feelings, (Check-ish)
8. Stay current with World News, (Quasi-Check, when I finally got off Facebook)
9. Be you, and (Check)
10. Love. (Check)

By the looks of my checklist from last year, I accomplished many but ultimately failed at others. But if you think about it, the phrase New Years resolutions in its entirety is suppose to mean you're resolving something from the previous year. Thus, there must have been problems to resolve. So making resolutions require finding issues from the previous year to solve, but what if there were no major issues. Either way, we shouldn't dwell on the past year and any issues that occurred, instead we shall look ahead, look at the future and what it can bring, the opportunities.

Before we charge ahead full steam, lets do a quick review. Crazy to think that a year ago, I was an aspiring law student, applying to law schools and floating in the uncertainty of whether or not I was qualified to be such a student. I was in the midst of deciding and creating my career path. A year later, I've completed a semester and I'm no longer an aspiring law student but rather an aspiring attorney. I attend a school that is innovating and making a name for itself, just as I am attempting to do. I am surrounded by a great environment with the right people and classmates.

Although I believe we are all in control of our own destiny, I also believe in fate. There are parts of our lives that are out of our control, where our decisions begin/end and fate takes over. Whether someone may view it as good/bad, I am suppose to be here, in this situation, this circumstance, in this moment. I am happy, I am enjoying the process and making the most of it. I am in my pursuit of happiness. Where it may be, whatever direction it may take me, however long it will take me, I will find it or maybe, if I'm lucky, it will find me.

Sorry, I got sidetracked, where was I? Right, year in review, applied to school, swam in master meets, got into school, helped coached the Newport team to another conference championship, worked in Philadelphia, moved to San Diego, started school, met awesome classmates and friends, experienced law school testing (midterms) on the weekend, finished first semester classes, survived finals, played too much golf over the year, and bummed around for the end of the year. Thats pretty non-eventful-ish.

2011 - it will be a fantastic year. I'm excited. What it holds will be the experience of a lifetime.

We have embarked on a new decade. A decade that may as well be life altering. In fact it will be life altering. A Juris Doctorate, a career, traveling, perhaps a MBA, a wife, a house, a kid(s). This decade is uncertain, but what is certain is that it will be fun, exciting and I will be happy.

Here's to you 2011 and the new decade.