Happy New Year

I got up at 5 am, did some stretches, answered some texts (when do some of you sleep?) and sat down to write. That's my new plan...

I didn't make new years resolutions; however, I did decide that I am redefining myself, beginning with the end of Christmas break. It sums up in two simple sentences:

I am a writer.
I am an athlete.

If you're paying attention, you're laughing. First, I've said I was a writer for years...decades. Writing to do lists is my major achievement, though. It your litmus test for being a writer is fairly low, you may agree that I am a writer. Hogwash! If you define writer a bit more stringently, you should scoff at me calling myself that--based on output, or discipline, or probably even talent, I don't qualify yet. I haven't proven it.

The second sentence is more amusing. I believe that jumping to conclusions is an aerobic exercise. I have a long history of being allergic to jocks. Hives, sneezing, snarky comments--it's not pretty when I'm confronted with dealing with athletes. So the idea that I'm even pretending to want to think about possibly calling myself one...Robin Williams should have such good material.

However--here's my theory: if I define myself as being a writer and an athlete, then commit to proving in my decisions and actions that I am in fact a writer and an athlete, maybe I'll make some changes that will add up over time. For instance, I'm back off pop. If I want to be an athlete, pop is counterproductive.

To that end, I'm getting up early each morning to do things that athletes and writers would do. I'm still figuring out details, of course, and I'm amazingly foggy since I didn't get to sleep till after one, but I'm easing into it. Just the fact that I'm typing when my cozy flannel sheets are whispering my name is noteworthy, so I'm counting today as a success.