Here is what I learned in 2018:

Better to take myself for a walk than to put it off. Since March, Thais and I have been wearing fitness trackers that let us know how many steps we are walking in a day and how we are sleeping. As of right now, just before bedtime, I have managed to get just over 5,000 or my daily quota of 10,000 steps. Most days are like this. And I can’t help thinking life was better before I was trying to shoot for the elusive LCD star by the end of the day. Fact is, technology (and the information it affords) can be a pain in the ass. But fitness as a whole has been more of a priority, stemming from many years of intentions that finally gelled.

Part of practicing what we preach came in the form of strength and endurance training as a duo, committed to meeting once a week with a trainer together and going from there. When our trainer had to take some time off to heal from injury we still managed to do 8Fit sessions together, which are easy to follow, can be done at home, any time, without equipment. Yay for technology.

We also returned to playing tennis after a multiple year hiatus. My parents have been on my mind as tennis was a huge part of their lives when they were the age I am now. It was a part of their social life, and how they got their exercise, what they did for fun.

On the opposite side of fitness, I am not changing the world by listening to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I am now very aware of when I may be literally sick from the news. In taking up time “staying informed” and feeding “my righteous indignation” by spending a portion of my day on the media carousel, I am taking time away from a grounded sense of myself. There is a line between being an informed citizen and juicing up on the news. This year I found the line and enjoyed the stretches of time that I did not cross it.

Looking within, I am recognizing how much I restrict myself to stay “safe”. One of the ways is putting off blog posts indefinitely. I pledge to push my edge in the coming year and connect rather than retract.

After the fires in October 2017, I really felt withdrawn and uncertain. Wanting the best life for my family, my wife and son, meant pulling back and reassessing our place, home, school, set and setting for all of our growth, together and apart. Since then, the news has not slept, and fires kept burning. I wanted to run but I didn’t know where to. As with garbage and globalism, there really is no ‘away’ to go or throw. 

The larger fitness challenge is finding groundedness and stillness no matter what fires are swirling around us, or where in the world we find ourselves.

How do you meet this challenge in your own life?

Nick Sholley, MFT