Thursday, September 09, 2010

Not dieting

When I wrote about how I was not working on driving, I referred to looking at three trouble spots (where I had not even been thinking about driving), and deciding that I could really only focus on one. I was not dieting, and I was not looking for love, because what I was focusing on was trying to get things in order financially.

Technically that is still my only focus. It looks like I am working on weight because of the exercise reports, but really, everything I am doing in that area is pretty minor. I am trying to launch a writing career while maintaining a day job, after finally getting a day job, and surprisingly this takes time.

Sometimes the priorities are set by urgency. Without steady income I get behind in my bills, which includes the mortgage, and besides leaving me homeless that could result in the homelessness of three other people, three dogs, and a cat, all of whom I love.

Beyond that, there seem to be a lot of ways in which having money helps with fitness (despite being fun to spend on other things). Money comes in handy for doctors’ appointments, medicine, gym memberships, fresh produce, and all sorts of things. You can eat healthily without a lot of money, and you can exercise for free, but the money still seems to make things a lot easier. Perhaps my perspective is shaped by going so long without it.

Of course, in my dream world, where I am selling screenplays, I have more free time for exercise anyway. Writing does take time, but a lot of the time is thinking time, and you can exercise and plot things out at the same time, much more than you can plot while answering customer questions or checking documents for accuracy.

It has been long enough since I had figured all of that out that when I seemed to be experiencing mission creep, I initially thought, well, it’s okay for plans to evolve. Upon further reflection, I think I haven’t actually changed anything. The time I am putting into exercise is really pretty minimal. I do other little things here and there, like trying to remember to take my vitamins, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator, adding a whole grain or a fruit here or there—but it is really all very minor.

The blogging is the big time drain, and it does take away from commercial writing time, since I don’t expect to ever be discovered as a blogger or turn that into income. However, it feels like something I should be doing, and I may be gearing up for something.

For new readers, a few years ago I did this 200 page document where I went over everything in my life. That has never been posted, though a lot of the things that I wrote about have ended up having blog posts as well. The point is, it felt like something that I needed to do, and even as I started I sensed about how long it was going to be and some of the places it was going to hit. Shortly after finishing that, I had the dream that grew into my first screenplay, and started writing that. I’m going with this.

I suppose the part about not focusing on looking for love will have a post or two in the future, but one step at a time.


25 minutes walking outside
Pushups
John 14 – John 21 (and Psalms 22)

No comments: