Un-Resolved

It is what, January 3? And already I have blown up both this year’s and last year’s New Year’s resolutions.

But before I get to that sad state of affairs, why not engage in some self congratulatory reflection?

As you may recall, my resolution last year was to try the “vegan before six” diet. The thinking was that such an approach would allow me to shift the majority of my diet to a healthy whole foods, fruits and vegetables centered approach, without giving up my foodie ways completely.

Oh and I also wanted to lose some weight and keep it off.

And all in all, the experiment was a success.

I slowly lost about 12 pounds in the first six months, and have kept them off since then.

More importantly I found out this way of eating was a perfect match for my own lifestyle and values, and VB6 was transformed from a resolution or “diet” into a legitimate lifestyle change.

Before 6 o’clock at night, meats, cheeses, breads, chips and crackers, pastries and sweets, gave way to beans and whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Food comas became a thing of the past after breakfasts and lunches, though I could still enjoy my not so occasional post dinner naps.

At this point my plan is to continue to eat this way for the rest of my life.

And one of the things that I found most compelling about the process of VB6 was how very slow the change was. My fat did not melt off. It just kind of slowly shrank imperceptibly over time. It was not so different from the phenomenon of compounding interest. Though compounding’s power is difficult to see on a day-to-day basis, over the course of years and decades its power is truly transformative.

Which brings me to this years resolution. I wanted to tap into the power of “slow change” again.

I wanted to pursue something each and every day to see if I could change myself for the better in a different (i.e. non-dietary) arena.

I first got the idea after reading  this book last year by Haruki Murakami.

Although I have never enjoyed running, there was something universal and inspiring in Murakami’s description of his own pursuit of distance running. Something about the dogged day to day persistence of his training and how it related to his other persistent rituals as a writer. Putting in the miles was analogous to the importance of sitting down each and every day to write something, whether he felt like it or not, and how these little efforts multiplied over time to become something meaningful like a novel or a marathon.

So I decided to give it a shot. And my goal was this: slow change.

What I wanted to do was run every day for a year. I would start off slow, running only eight minutes every day. But each week I would add one minute to my daily running time, so that by the end of the year I was running one hour every day.

I wanted to run every day because I find it is easier to do something every day, than to choose to do it sporadically.

And I had no idea if such an approach would work.

But it was worth a shot. Which is why I went out and bought a pair of New Balance running shoes last week. And why I planned to run my first eight minutes on January 1.

But it’s three days into the new year I have failed to run a single minute.

The plan was to drive up to Mount Bachelor on December 31 and enjoy a four-day skiing vacation with the family. I would do my running in the morning after waking up and then enjoy the rest of the day skiing and hanging out with my family.

Unfortunately on December 30, my wife came down with a flu like illness, and by new years eve 3/5 of my family, Including yours truly, was down for the count.

So instead of running and skiing, I spent my time in bed spiking fevers, coughing, taking baths, and blowing my nose.

And instead of continuing on with VB6, I found myself eating saltines and drinking Gatorade.

But what are you going to do? Life happens.

And today I found myself well enough to get back to my new hobby of making and carving clear ice rocks for cocktails. (Though certainly not well enough to drink a cocktail.)

(What I talk about when I talk about ice cubes,)

So who knows, maybe tomorrow will be the first day I’m well enough to run.

Hope springs eternal.

Happy New Year!