Done for good (Week 52)
"There are two fatal errors that keep great projects from coming to life: 1) Not finishing 2) Not starting."
Those really don't sound like words that would come from Buddha's mouth, but he still gets credit for the quote. Who cares, right? It's just so true. A year ago, when I started Goodness52, the finish line seemed an eternity away, and it took some intestinal fortitude to see it through to the end. And now here I am. Time to look back on a year that began with running every day for seven days and ended with a little dog coming into our lives.
As far as I know, this kind of New Year's Resolution is a new thing. So, getting started meant having the idea in the first place. That came during a run in the first week of January last year, when I realized that running every day for a full year would likely put me in my grave. I settled on something new every week instead, and what a journey that became!
After running for seven straight days, I went into a week as a vegetarian. People began asking me if my blog was all about getting healthier, so I started making kookier plans. I spent a week learning to knit, and a week learning to knot. I swore off coffee for a week, swore off booze for a week, and even swore off swearing for a week.
After a year, people are now asking me which of those things stuck. I tell them that doing stuff with other people seems to be the glue. Especially with my family. My wife Val and I have added evening walks into our lives, are now birdwatchers with his 'n' hers binoculars, and are planning our next ballroom dancing adventures. An epic bike ride with my son Nic from Victoria to San Francisco also provided me with some memorable weeks sleeping under the stars and cycling every day. Getting a book-a-day recommendation from my daughter Holly will also get a repeat performance.
Like any resolution, though, this was anything but easy. I started dreading Sunday afternoon and the laptop staring at me, almost daring me to give up. More than once, I thought back to Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, when his drill sergeant, Lou Gossett Jr., would practically beg him to give up. "No sir! You can kick me outta here, but I ain't quitting!" And so I just soldiered on.
People are also curious if I learned anything deep or meaningful in my year-long resolution experiment. Absolutely! I discovered that there are infinite ways to bring more goodness into your life. Some were things that have been gnawing at me over the years, like learning a language and meditating. Some were suggestions from friends, like cold showers and manscaping. Some popped up in magazines as current trends, like forest bathing and marie kondo. In their own way, each of those adventures was a chance to find something new in myself, and realize the infinite potential that lay ahead.
We are all on a voyage. And we all know what the ultimate finish line will be. So as much as it is about starting and finishing, it is also about the bits in between. If we can make those moments, those weeks, those years, more meaningful, then the journey will have been well worth it.
Wishing you all a life of goodness and purpose. Robb
Thanks to everyone who encouraged me along the way, gave me ideas, found something they liked, and shared the blog with others. You are so good!
Those really don't sound like words that would come from Buddha's mouth, but he still gets credit for the quote. Who cares, right? It's just so true. A year ago, when I started Goodness52, the finish line seemed an eternity away, and it took some intestinal fortitude to see it through to the end. And now here I am. Time to look back on a year that began with running every day for seven days and ended with a little dog coming into our lives.
As far as I know, this kind of New Year's Resolution is a new thing. So, getting started meant having the idea in the first place. That came during a run in the first week of January last year, when I realized that running every day for a full year would likely put me in my grave. I settled on something new every week instead, and what a journey that became!
After running for seven straight days, I went into a week as a vegetarian. People began asking me if my blog was all about getting healthier, so I started making kookier plans. I spent a week learning to knit, and a week learning to knot. I swore off coffee for a week, swore off booze for a week, and even swore off swearing for a week.
After a year, people are now asking me which of those things stuck. I tell them that doing stuff with other people seems to be the glue. Especially with my family. My wife Val and I have added evening walks into our lives, are now birdwatchers with his 'n' hers binoculars, and are planning our next ballroom dancing adventures. An epic bike ride with my son Nic from Victoria to San Francisco also provided me with some memorable weeks sleeping under the stars and cycling every day. Getting a book-a-day recommendation from my daughter Holly will also get a repeat performance.
Like any resolution, though, this was anything but easy. I started dreading Sunday afternoon and the laptop staring at me, almost daring me to give up. More than once, I thought back to Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, when his drill sergeant, Lou Gossett Jr., would practically beg him to give up. "No sir! You can kick me outta here, but I ain't quitting!" And so I just soldiered on.
People are also curious if I learned anything deep or meaningful in my year-long resolution experiment. Absolutely! I discovered that there are infinite ways to bring more goodness into your life. Some were things that have been gnawing at me over the years, like learning a language and meditating. Some were suggestions from friends, like cold showers and manscaping. Some popped up in magazines as current trends, like forest bathing and marie kondo. In their own way, each of those adventures was a chance to find something new in myself, and realize the infinite potential that lay ahead.
We are all on a voyage. And we all know what the ultimate finish line will be. So as much as it is about starting and finishing, it is also about the bits in between. If we can make those moments, those weeks, those years, more meaningful, then the journey will have been well worth it.
Wishing you all a life of goodness and purpose. Robb
Thanks to everyone who encouraged me along the way, gave me ideas, found something they liked, and shared the blog with others. You are so good!
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