I Set a Goal, One Goal at a Time

I Set a Goal
_____________

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

– Marcus Aurelius

What keeps me going is goals.

– Muhammad Ali

_____________________

Let’s set one thing straight: I may be “old,” but I’m not yet ready for “God’s Waiting Room.”

This wasn’t true two months ago.

I felt like crap, my weight was up, and I was tired all the time.

But, now, with the CPAP therapy, much improved diet, less weight on my frame, and light exercise, I feel great and much younger than my real age. In fact, I don’t remember feeling this vibrant since the early 1990’s.

On June 20, 2016, I wrote about Leptin Resistance and how sleep deprivation can contribute to obesity (although this potential causal effect is still scientifically inconclusive).

Having to go on CPAP therapy (also explained in the Leptin Resistance post) was more than a wake-up call. In fact, the very idea of it was almost insulting: “How dare my body betray me in such an embarrassing way.” It felt like one step closer to wearing an oxygen tank, 24/7, one step closer to the dreaded Waiting Room.

Indeed, I am tied to a breathing machine as I sleep, and I must carry it with wherever I travel, and roughing it in the wild is probably no longer an option.

But I have to say that this is one of the best things that has happened to me in my lifetime. While I fight to get off of the machine eventually, I can see clearly and feel how it is helping me.

I have set a goal, an important one: to lose weight so that I can lose the CPAP.

Having set this goal, I realize that there is a good chance that I will never lose the CPAP, that my brand of breathing problem might be genetic. But the goal itself is worthy, and the effects of striving for that goal will have (and has had) positive effects on my body and mind.

The important thing here: to always set at least one achievable goal (losing the weight, etc.).

Perhaps my next goal will be to finish that Great American Novel I started back in 2001, even if it sucks and never becomes a best seller.

So, Dear Goddess, I need to step out of your waiting room for a good long time.