Season of Fitness and My Next Season
On Dec 28, 2019 I was 174.8lbs and on July 14th, 2020 I weighed in at 162.2, just 2.2 lbs over my goal weight for the end of 2020. The original soft goal was to hit 160 and then stay between 160 and 165, but the “season of fitness” wasn’t just about hitting the weight goal. I started running this year, and to my surprise, I actually stuck with it. Turns out endorphins feel good. I’m pleased that I haven’t gone crazy and bitten off more than I can chew. I’ve given myself slack when I’ve needed it — not every day needs to be about fitness. The general trend of the season needs to be about fitness. And towards that end, I have accomplished the physical aspect. I can run 6+ miles without being out of breath (though I’ll be tired). I can even run kinda fast sometimes. I’ve found running with others to be enjoyable and something I foresee myself doing in the future with friends and family.
When I selected this for my “season of x” I thought I might also apply it to the fitness of the mind. I thought I may try to take on more ambitions intellectually… but I’m disappointed to report that that hasn’t happened. Maybe it’s due to COVID-19, but I’d be lying if I used that as a real excuse. The real reason is that I’m lazy and haven’t put in an earnest effort to change the fitness of my mind.
For my next “season”, I’m going to be trying a “season of awareness”. I think that there are a lot of things in life and in my life that I’m missing and could easily be improved if I just paid attention to them. I think being more aware of the myself, my thoughts, how I operate will bode well for me in the future. I think being aware of the decisions I take and importantly, those that I do not take, both explicitly, and implicitly through opportunity costs will aid in helping make this life one that I want it to be. Starting with being aware should aid in knowing where to start improvements.
Being aware of others around me should improve my relationships, both romantic and platonic. Spending more time thinking about what they might be thinking or how they might interpret something or even just what their desires and needs are I hope will prove fruitful.
Awareness about the world is less important to me this coming season, at least right now. It would seem in vogue to do so now, with Black Lives Matter and similar movements gaining public steam. I think that they are important, but much like I didn’t want to dive into running every day for long distances, I don’t want to set myself up for failure by promising to try to be aware of everything that’s going on in the world. I’m not good at general news awareness, partly by choice, and it’s likely I’ll revisit that choice soon, but at the start of the season, world event awareness is not the goal.