Sunday, June 19, 2011

ENJOY LIFE


"The first question which you will ask and which I must try to answer
is this, ‘What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?’ and my answer
must at once be, ‘It is no use.’ There is not the slightest prospect
of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behavior
of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn
our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But
otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single
bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron. We shall not
find a single foot of earth that can be planted with crops to raise
food. It’s no use. So, if you cannot understand that there is
something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and
goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself
upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get
from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end
of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money
to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is
for."

--George Mallory, 1922

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Age is only a number

 I celebrated my Birthday last week.  It was a "hard to swallow" Birthday.  53 years old , sounds and looks so OLD.  I hated every minute of turning that horrid number.  I didn't even feel good on that day.  I felt old, ugly and used up.  But, today, almost one week later, I am feeling good and moving on with my 53 year old bad self.  Enough said!! Matt surprised me with a Greg LeMond spin cycle that is big and beautiful.  It is displayed in our living room (for now anyway), and it is as quiet as a mouse.  Now I can watch all my reality shows and get in shape at the same time.  I am really excited. 

 I was also given the okay to start running again.  My Doc gave me his blessing and then said, "but you can not fall!"  Duh....who goes out running and plans a fall?  Come on, Doctor K!  If I had any control over the subject, I would never, ever ,chose to fall! 

I have power hiked until the cows have come home and I still am sucking wind at every hill.  I guess I have a lot of running to do before I am feeling fit again.  Hopefully the spin bike will help me achieve my fitness goals. 

I don't think I have really ever talked about my dog, Jada.  I feel like a first time parent these days.  Everything is about Jada.  I go to the dog park, I take her on runs, long hikes, I kiss her a hundred times a day and I talk baby talk to her.  I think I've lost my mind.  Maybe its time to go back to work.....

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.  Ursula K. LeGuin