My Final Blog

Today is the day I have chosen to bring my blog to an official end.  I want to thank everyone who took the time to read my daily blog.  Its been a very productive year but, since school ends for the holiday season tomorrow, I feel its time.  I originally set a goal to walk one thousand miles in 2011.  I've logged over fifteen hundred.  It feels absolutely amazing to surpass the goal I set for myself. 
Total Miles Walked - 1506
Weight Reps - 62,000 

Sit ups, crunches - 17,500

Push ups - 8300
Butt Lifts - 12,000
Not long ago, I saw myself as someone who would have to struggle through life just trying to avoid the pain and anxiety or, at the very least, I'd be drugged by prescription medicines for the rest of my life.  Now I see that, through hard work, determination, and a combination of prayer and practical magic, I can make miracles happen.  I can leap right over those hurdles (and not even throw my back out).  
There will always be things I am physically incapable of doing but, that doesn't have to stop me from doing what I can.  The older I get, the wiser I get.  The wiser I get, the more I know my body and what it is capable of.  The more I know my body, the more I can push myself to be all I can be.  
I'm not ever going to go back to being one of those folks who sits on the couch watching life pass me by.  I plan on participating in life again.  
I'm not ever going to go back to filling my body with crap from day to day.  Food is fuel and, as long as I live by that, I know I will maintain my weight.  We can look back and ask ourselves, "How did I ever get this way?" ...or blame our issues on extraneous factors but, the truth is...we are ultimately responsible for ourselves.  We got to where we are because we made certain choices or we didn't make them.   
I have maintained my post basic training weight (AKA age 18) because I made a commitment to work out and eat better in 2011.  Sure, it wasn't as easy as it was when I was eighteen but, the bottom line is...it was achievable regardless of my wrinkles and grey hairs.   
I skipped a few unnecessary things throughout the year (I cut back on high priced coffee and regular manicures) in order to save up and donate to charity.  It was the right thing to do.  How do I know?  I may not see the actual outcome of my efforts, but the other day, I took our son to Taco Bell.  When he got back in the car, he said, "Can I keep the change?  My school is collecting to give gifts to needy kids this Christmas.  I've given almost thirty dollars I'd saved up and this will help."   The way I see it, if I have raised a charitable child then, all I have done was worthwhile.  
According to the statistics, my blog has been read nearly 9000 times by folks all over the world.  I don't know how most found me but I hope I have, in some way, helped.  
Perhaps, over time, readers will continue to go back and catch something they've missed along the way.  Perhaps, they will share what they have read with friends, family, or coworkers.  
Perhaps, my readers will begin their own blogs.   
If we spread the word, if we begin to care, if we open my minds and our hearts to new ideas and new experiences...I mean, who knows what illnesses we might prevent through proactive healthy living?  We might someday change the very reason we see doctors.  Some day, in the our future or our children's future, we might change things.  Doctors might someday only be needed for preventative care.  Now, wouldn't that be nice?  
I guess...like Martin Luther King, Jr., "I have a dream"...