Friday, January 05, 2007

Friday Quote Day – and a rant

A long one today, and so appropriate for the end of the first hard week of the year:
"Don't let the fear
of the time it will take
to accomplish something
stand in the way of your doing it.
The time will pass anyway;
we might just as well
put that passing time
to the best possible use."


– Earl Nightingale


This was how I felt last year at this time, although I can't find where I wrote about it. I've heard of, ahem, mature citizens adopting this philosophy when they decide to go back to college to finally get their degrees, as well.

And it works. At least it worked for me in 2006. I might break my arm patting myself on the back, but I never gave up for the whole year. My weight loss was slow from the get-go, and eventually stopped in the fall. I even gained back a few pounds. But I kept [mostly] doing what I was supposed to do, and I have confidence that continuing on this path will bring even more success in 2007.

Do I wish I was at goal? You bet. But I see now that I was a tad overoptimistic last January, considering the amount I wanted to lose, my age and the many times I've gone through the lose/gain cycle before. But at this point I'm more than halfway there – and I know I'll never be finished – and I'm learning that I need to take my rewards as they come. Those rewards right now include having more energy, breathing and moving more easily and wearing smaller sizes, among others.

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day. The rain didn't start until after midnight. But I ran on the treadmill anyway. After a five-minute warm-up at 3.5mph, I started jogging and increased the speed to 4.5mph, and stayed there for 3.25 miles, then gradually reduced the speed for five more minutes to cool down. Proving to myself that I really can run a 5K. Heh.

Pretty boring, though. Even with the Shuffle and SportsCenter visuals, I couldn't wait to be done. I also did my little weight-lifting routine. I almost forgot about the crunches, but I managed to work them in later in the afternoon.

I went to a drug program graduation ceremony at the prison yesterday afternoon, where I knew I would get my daily dose of feel-good. They never disappoint. The graduates have attended a nine-month residential treatment program during their incarceration, will soon be released to halfway houses and upon release will be working, raising their children and getting to know the world again. They're scared and apprehensive and brave.

Each class dedicates a song to the next group. I get a lot of my inspirational music from them. Yesterday's was called "I Need You to Survive," a gospel song by Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Choir. Not. A. Dry. Eye. Including mine, of course, and it's available on iTunes.

Project 365 has now morphed into 363 for me. Sigh. One of the suggestions at the P365 website [link fixed] is to take your camera with you everywhere. I guess that would help. I've not adopted that habit yet.

To Kit, a big thank-you for your suggestions in yesterday's comments. I especially appreciate the book recommendation, and will look for it soon.

Update on the grandson/son-in-law mittens: My grandson called to thank me and said, "I love having mittens that match my daddy's." So I think they were a hit. I've worn mine twice now and they really are great. What was I waiting for? What are you waiting for? Heh.

Today is a scheduled rest day, something I haven't had for a while. But Mr. Shrinking Knitter and I are going to be out and about, so at least I won't be sitting on my ass all day.

Now for the rant. Here's a Nancy Pelosi quote from today's NYTimes:

"It’s an historic moment for the women of America.
It is a moment for which we have waited for over 200 years."


Nancy, it's MORE THAN, not OVER!

That grammatical error bugs me as much as any other. Maybe more than. Heh. At one time – back in the Dark Ages – I was a typesetter for a monthly magazine, and I can't tell you how many times our editor sent copy back to correct that misuse of a word. Eventually I got confident enough to make the corrections as I was setting the type. I wonder if the editor thought all her writers and reporters suddenly took remedial English courses after I started doing that.

Okay, I'm done now.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bless your heart, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who is irked by lousy grammar in lofty places.

and I love the quote of the day, it's a good inspiration. thanks for sharing.

Jack Sprat said...

Debbi:

Thanks for reminding me that my life's journey is not a "race" to be "won." Sometimes I think I have to lost three pounds immediately or else I'm a failure. Or if I don't rein in my overeating TODAY then I've blown it. Its really helpful to hear that I don't have to be AFRAID of how long it might take.

Shoot, I was hoping by now I would be PERFECT.

-J

Jack Sprat said...

Since Nancy Pelosi is **MY** congressional representative (GO NANCY!!!), I have to defend her with the following quote from the website of Central Connecticut College (I'm from Connecticut!):

"More than / over ??
In the United States, we usually use "more than" in countable numerical expressions meaning "in excess of" or "over." In England, there is no such distinction. For instance, in the U.S., some editors would insist on "more than 40,000 traffic deaths in one year," whereas in the UK, "over 40,000 traffic deaths" would be acceptable. Even in the U.S., however, you will commonly hear "over" in numerical expressions of age, time, or height: "His sister is over forty; she's over six feet tall. We've been waiting well over two hours for her."

xoxo

-J

Anonymous said...

I like the quote today. It's a good thing to remember.

Anne M. said...

You may not be where you wanted to be a year ago looking ahead to now, but you are still better off than had you done nothing. So yes, the quote is very appropriate for you and for many of us. You're working on your Marathon Training and this is a good thing!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Debbi, I actually want to leave a comment about yesterday's blog...I,too, am going to train and walk the Nashville Half Marathon. I live in cincinnati and have done 4 other marathons and am living proof that,yes, you can GAIN weight and train for marathons...but you probably figured that,right? Anyway, I will be trainig with a group and maybe could help you with some of your questions about training. I will send you a regular email if you'd like tomorrow after I come back from my first training walk. I read your blog every day and love it. regards, Mary in Cincinnati

... said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the qoute! and i LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of a photo a day! i am so on this photo a day band wagon! :) and i already have my first photo for my collection! LOL

Anonymous said...

Nice quote and way to go. The problem or the challenge in losing weight is staying with it and being mentally prepared to go through highs and lows.

Best of luck this 2007!