Of Moving and Other Life Changes
Hi again! I apologize for the long absence of REAL writings to this blog. Sometimes, I forget how much I enjoy posting to the blog and how much I NEED to blog. It's been quite a summer.
It has been a summer of CHANGE, that is for sure. My wife and I are teachers on summer break. Now before you decide that teachers get too much vacation, try teaching for a school year. It is not an easy job. Many people don't understand this and there is truly no way someone can fully appreciate how much summer breaks are a needed aspect of the profession. Most teachers use this time to prepare for the coming school year, take classes required to keep their credential current or work summer school, though summer school is being cut left and right by school districts here in California.
For the past two years, we have had do in-town moves. Finding a new place to live is very time consuming and creates a large amount of uncertainty in one's future. Of course,the MOVING part is never fun. Fortunately, we had some great friends to help us with the move. That made the process a BIT easier, at least. Now that we are moved in and getting settled, we are very happy with the new diggs and praise God for his Divine Providence.
The other life change of the summer actually began in late May. I was asked by friends to go on a photography/hiking trip to Yosemite. I LOVE Yosemite and always enjoy experiencing God's Creation. It is a very spiritual place for me. While the photography side of the trip was a marvelous learning opportunity, the hiking portion proved to be a true eye-opening event.
After hiking from Curry Village to the trailhead to Vernal Falls (approximately 1 mile), we started up the 0.8 mile trek up hill to the bridge below the falls. While this trail is rather steep, my 39-year old, 370 pound body performed more like that of a 70-year old. I am very ashamed to admit that it took me 2 hours to scale the 0.8 mile incline as I had to stop every 20 feet or so. It was truly pathetic. I have been obese most of my adult life with a slow steady weigh gain year over year. I KNEW I finally had to make some changes.
Coinciding with this new realization was the recent re-airing of an Oprah episode from last January (I think) in which she admits her failure to REALLY tackle her weight demons. In it, Oprah presses her viewers fighting the weight battle to answer questions like "Why are you fat?" and other questions that get beyond the surface problems and dig down to the root phycological issues. In other words, getting her viewers to identify their relationship with food and the voids that WE were trying to fill with food. I don't know exactly how to answer these questions for ME but I realize now that I need to explore them. Other TV shows, like Biggest Loser, have also been inspirational. And so, my new journey begins.
Until I find the answers, I know that I must MOVE more so I have been walking daily (enjoying my favorite podcasts along the way) and have already seen some small results of these efforts, which I welcome. Of course, once the regular school year begins, I am not sure how to work my exercise into my teaching schedule but I am dedicated to making it a priority in my life.
More on this journey later.
