Be Better

As I look back at my blog posts I see that it has been 5 months since I last checked in. Shame on me! The winter months set me back a lot as the cold weather and I don't get along...I can be cold standing in the sunshine! The funny thing is that the more body fat I lose the colder I get. Speaking of body fat, as of the morning I was at 25.4% body fat with my ultimate goal of about 18%. If you recall the ultimate goal for me was to get to the same weight as Bruce Lee was which was about 144 and this morning the scale came back with 164 meaning I still have 20 pounds to lose. Last evening I glanced at my driver's license that was issued 3 years ago when we moved back to Washington State and under weight it says 220...and I specifically remember fudging that by a good 10 pounds which means to date I've lost 66 pounds. Still work to do!

A key part of my daily walks is listening to podcasts, a bit of a challenge since I'm a bit of a podcast snob...and that came from my years in broadcasting and the need for excellence in audio quality. The bulk of the podcasts just don't meet up to my "standard" even though the idea of a podcast is that anyone can do them at their kitchen table or sitting the bathroom. My issue is that they sound like it! I know, my problem. But it manifests itself in a lot of trial and error when it comes to listening on my walks. I spend a great deal of time walking and trying to jump to yet another podcast to try out. I did really enjoy the Nutrition Facts podcast with Dr. Michael Greger but I've managed to listen to something like 5 years worth!

So starting this morning I grabbed a book on tape from Hoopla and after a couple of missteps I managed to settle on one, Bruce Lee's "The Art of Expressing the Human Body." One of his mantra's or mottos is "Be Water," which means to be flexible in everything and I've tried to live by that philosophy over the years. My wife and I have always been the ones to have to change our plans to fit everyone else's schedules so it's been an on-going challenge. But this got me to thinking about what MY motto or mantra should be. What, in as few words as possible, would speak how I feel about myself and my wish for others? It didn't take me long to come up it...BE BETTER!

While Bruce extols the idea of the ultimate flexibility I fully believe that we should all try to be BETTER. If each one of us would take on that simple challenge think what might happen? The sentiment extends to every facet of our beings. Health...BE BETTER; Education...BE BETTER; Kindness...BE BETTER! The list just keeps going. It's a challenge we can make to ourselves each and every second of the day. How can I be better at...(insert your challenge here)? It's not telling you to be the BEST, just to be better.

With 20 pounds still left to get off it is time for me to take the message of BE BETTER to heart and do just that. There is always something that needs to BE BETTER! With my goal really in sight it's time to ramp this up and make it happen and that means being accountable for every pound...and the way I make myself accountable is to blog about it...put it out there...and that's something I need to BE BETTER about. Time to get busy! See you soon -G