Good Intentions for 2017

Taking the plunge

The good wishes that are passed around as we roll into another year are great to hear and most welcome, and we will continue to receive the same greetings every time you meet somebody we know for the next couple of weeks until we have wished everybody in our family circle, friends,neighbours and trades people a very Happy and healthy New Year.

What we need to do surely is check up on them more often to make sure that they continue to know that you care and making sure that those same people that we care about get the idea that we are really there them and that we will give help if it is needed.

Here above with my daughter Jacqueline who is always up for a new challenge.

It seems to me that the idea of making of New Year resolutions is fading into oblivion and that all most people say is that they will cut down on the alcohol but that one goes straight out of the window the first time they get together with their friends. An expression that totally mystifies me is the one that seems so common place this days and that is “Lets go out and get drunk”. Really! What is that about? Can young people’s lives be so unfulfilled that drinking themselves silly seems like it is a good idea?

Maybe it just because I am getting old but I am proud to say that I have never gone out with the firm intention of getting drunk. Making myself clear on that I must be more honest and say that in my younger days that I have gone out to parties with my friends and now and again ‘Drunk’ is how I have ended up but it was never the intention and I always regretted it. After my friend Thelma’s twenty first birthday party I had a hangover for three days and never drank gin again in my entire life.

GB women at Worlds in Japan

I did try not to be the party pooper but in truth I was always a lightweight. I enjoy a glass of white wine with dinner and have not joined the huge fan club of Prosecco because I prefer the taste and effect of a nice white wine, I find Prosecco a bit acid tasting and it makes my neck turn red.

Worlds in Nice

Every New years eve for as long as I can remember, I have written out two lists of wishes; the first wish is things that I would like to see the back of, and the other one is the list of things I would like to happen or intent to try to do in the coming year, my good resolutions as it were. I then destroy the bad list and fold the good intentions list up and put it in an envelope in my desk drawer where each time I am searching for something or sorting out the untidy drawer I can open the Good Ressie list and remind myself what my intentions were and try again to implement them firmly again that way I hope to continue as I started the year.

Worlds in Chicago

I mention this because I have heard friends say “Oh well I tried for a bit but then I fell off the wagon” or they just wondered why the hell they should bother trying to be a better person when everybody else had switched on the selfish button again.

If you fall off your particular wagon be it the drink wagon or the food wagon or the exercise wagon, you do feel like a failure but there is no rule that you cannot jump right back on without a ticket. Pick yourself up dust yourself off and start all over again.

First Ironman for Tuff Fitty in Lanzarote

I have two friends who spring to mind as I write all this down. One is new to triathlon, so new that she has not actually done a race yet but did last week because of a series of outside influences complete all three disciplines in one day and all before breakfast at four pm!!!!! She is a busy mother and wife and works full time as a police officer.

Worlds in London four months after breaking three bones

 

The other woman is more difficult to keep and eye one because she lives in New Zealand but we try to keep in touch in the accepted modern way with the dreaded Facebook posts and PM’s. This woman is a probation officer who is trying to get back into triathlon having trained with us donkeys years ago. She has a comeback race in mind. She is aiming at a longer distance event in New Zealand.

Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater Florida

The common factor between we three women is that we are all heavier than we should be if we want to get through our triathlon events this year and I would like to invite those gals to join me in shifting the blubber because it is so obviously an advantage to be lighter, not for the swim where it makes little difference since your body is supported by the water and not for the bike where it makes a bit of difference on the hills but for goodness sake ladies: It makes one hell of a difference on the run leg!

Lets get together…. Right nowowow, as the song goes. There are a few guys I know that could do with joining us on the diet bus too. It’s a hop on hop off bus so if you sneak in for a burger you can hop right back the next time the bus comes around.

I do sincerely wish you all a Happy and Healthy Year in 2017 feel free to call me or email me because I am available to talk it through.