Goals long-term
inspire
challenge
draw us beyond ourselves
but
goals,
however distant,
aspirational
inspirational,
challenging,
motivating,
defining
we meet,
always meet,
one moment
one step
at a time.
31 May 2015
Shire
Manhattan, New York
Tricia and I arrived at the time share in Maui where Bruce and Nancy Eng MacNeill met us. After words of greeting, they told me they had a Hawaiian shirt for me.
I cringed a bit as I generally don’t like such shirts. But they brought it out and it was awesome.
“It’s an XL,” said Nancy.
“Not sure I can wear that,” I replied.
“It’s cut a bit larger than other XLs,” she responded.
I took the shirt. Tried it on. It fit!
An XL. An XL. A year ago, I would have needed a 3X or 4X.
Much work remains. But I have made progress.
A great shirt from good friends and an XL. Good stuff.
See you around the Trail.
Like a poorly working neon light
that flickers sporadically off, then on,
while rain beads on the window pane,
the awareness flashes across my consciousness
then fades.
Things
must
change.
Change
must
I.
Not for a moment,
not for a season,
but for now and for always.
Change
must
I.
3 May 2015
Atlanta, Georgia
In terms of self-care, 2014 proved a good year. I am down 80 pounds from my highest weight and 50 pounds from my starting weight when I got serious again in the Spring. I have, however, hit a bit of a plateau over the last three months. Hence, it is time to renew my efforts. Yet again. You can follow my efforts on Steps Along the Trail. My goals have changed a bit. Each day I want to eat well (between 2,000 and 2,200 calories); do 30 minutes of cardio of some sort; and walk for 12,000 steps. I will try to add the stretching exercises my massage therapist wants me to do. I have a couple new wrinkles to provide motivation and jump start this initiative. I have increased my goal for steps. It had been 10,000. I have instituted a reward program for when I meet all three goals for seven days. I have set a goal of running or walking or walking/running a 5K this year. I have signed up to do the virtual 5K to benefit Cutch’s Crew/Pirates Charities. I have set a tentative date of April 11 to do my 5K. I have set up steps challenges with family and friends. Most step wins. In January, the losers will donate $10 to the charity of the winner’s choice. I have resumed using My Fitness Pal to track eating and am using Run Keeper to track my outdoor walking. You can become my friend on either of those if you want to track my progress there. Another wrinkle or two will pop up as the year unfolds. It all starts tomorrow! Wish me luck. And again, feel free to follow. Or not. See you along the Trail.
A good friend gave me this plaque on Friday: 
It speaks profoundly to my experience. We do not travel the Trail alone. We do so accompanied by family and friends who care for us, sometimes in ways we fail to realize. We do so surrounded by neighbors and people we do not know whose lives touch ours in surprising, amazing ways. And we do so supported by sisters and brothers we will never meet, sisters and brothers who work hard, and whose labor is sometimes exploited, to allow us to enjoy the lives we have. There is much to ponder.
For tonight, I use this plaque as an opportunity to thank those who support my self-care effort. Tricia, Sean, and Eric have been great! Certain friends are key to my effort. Many are always there. A number have become part of my community of accountability, receiving self-serving emails with gentle grace. Their support comes in many forms: reading what I write, responding, sending an unexpected text, providing a plaque and vitamins, answering questions, asking on Facebook, “Have you been to the gym?”, and more.
A wider community also takes care of me. People who like or comment on Facebook posts. People who take the moment to say encouraging words. People like Greg, who literally gushed about my progress before and after the service when I preached at the Church of the Covenant.
It takes a village to lose a boatload of weight and take care of oneself. At least it does for me. To each of you – to all of you – in my village, my thanks. I hope I care for you as well as you care for me.
See you along the Trail.
The details are on my other blog, but today marked a break through in my self-care efforts. For the first time ever, I did more running that walking on the treadmill.
Over the past few days, I have been humbly and powerfully reminded of the importance of a community in this effort.
It will take a village to help me lose this boatload of weight and improve my conditioning.
For those in the village – thank you!
See you along the Trail.
We both stopped short as we came to the corner. I walked close to the building, too close I admit. Perhaps Ralph and Sally did, too. But we both stopped short; we averted a collision.
“Mark. You are losing weight again. Well done,” Ralph gushed.
His excitement and enthusiasm has remained with me all day. I have reflected on the experience all day.
Today marks the ninth day I have worked at self-care. This time. I have made many efforts in recent years as well. Sometimes I do well for a stretch and then everything falls apart. Eight days, soon nine, represents one of my longer efforts.
Ralph’s encouraging words, reminded me of how this time is different from earlier efforts and how this time is the same.
What is different, is this time I am working with a doctor with whom I feel connected. I have liked my earlier doctors. I have trusted them. But this time, something clicked with my new doctor from my first visit in May. I had a pretty good run after the appointment. Then I spent two weeks eating everything that did not move while at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly. My second visit took place on June 23. She gave me advice and now I try to apply it.
What is the same, is the community of accountability that surrounds and sustains and supports me. It includes friends and family who have expressed concern for my health – and who have voiced support for my efforts. Some in the group comment on my Facebook posts or follow the blog where I make reports or engage me in conversations, virtual and real. They have made their support known to me and I appreciate it them deeply. They serve as my personal cheering section. Others, such as Ralph, cheer me on even when I am unaware of their presence.
To all the members of this accountability group, family and friends, known and unknown, I say thank you. With your support, I have made a great start. The journey continues.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Exercise, Family, Food, Friends, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
No fanfare
No ticker tape
No press conference
No advertising
No email blast
But with this simple,
Not so subtle,
Announcement
Yet again,
I begin
Again
See you along the Trail.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness invites us to write to our Members of Congress now and tell them that you support a comprehensive, fair, faithful Farm Bill.
As the year draws to a close, Congress has many must-pass items left on its plate. Perhaps most pressing are the budget and the Farm Bill. The House is scheduled to adjourn for the year next Friday, Dec. 13, but the Senate did not even return from Thanksgiving recess until next Monday, Dec. 6. This leaves one week for them to wrap up the first session of the 113th Congress.
Of course, that it not to say that conversations are not ongoing. Indeed, bicameral conference committees on both issues are in the midst of delicate and intense negotiations. Leaving aside the question of the budget for now, for after all, Congress does have a few weeks into the New Year to come to agreement before the next manufactured fiscal crisis, the focus of the faith community has been on the Farm Bill.
Our nation’s food and farm policies, as embodied in the Farm Bill, impact people and communities from rural America to big cities to developing countries. In the Farm bill are provisions that authorize SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps), international food aid, conservation programs, initiatives that support new and minority farmers and ranchers, rural development programs, sustainable energy research, farm subsidies, crop insurance, just to name the most famous. In all, the Farm Bill is a mixed bag of policies, some of which promote a more just food system and some that trap us in a vicious cycle of subsidized commodities and under-nutrition. Nevertheless, the Farm Bill is must-pass, if for no other reason than that it authorizes SNAP and promotes environmentally sustainable practices on working farmlands.
Write to your Members of Congress to urge a just and comprehensive Farm Bill this year.
In the current budget climate, which incorrectly functions from an assumption of scarcity, the Farm Bill’s limited resources must be effectively targeted where need is greatest. And people are hungry –- the U.S. and around the world. Programs and policies that curb hunger and malnutrition, support vibrant agricultural economies in rural communities, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources must be prioritized. At the same time, we should be shifting away from investment in programs that subsidize factory farms and promote major commodities as the most viable crops for food and fuel.
Earlier in the year, serious threats were made to the funding of SNAP and on Nov. 1st , SNAP benefits were cut as a 2009 funding increase ran out. Far from there being room to cut SNAP, most SNAP beneficiaries find that their benefits run out by the third or fourth week of the month and turn to private charity to fill gap. If anything, we need to invest more in Food Stamp benefits. SNAP is designed as a counter-cyclical program that expands to meet needs when the economy is bad and people lose income and become eligible. When the jobs outlook and economy improve, it contracts as participants cycle off the program.
So, Congress must reauthorize the SNAP program without the proposed cuts. There is simply no way to achieve significant cuts without affecting benefits and nutrition education programs. Write today to your members of Congress.
To read more about the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness’ advocacy around the Farm Bill and SNAP, visit their blog.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Current Events, Food, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Along the Graybeard Trail 