(Day 144 / -88 lbs.) Endeavor to Persevere

"Endeavor to persevere." What the heck does that mean, exactly?

Not only is it a line from one of my favorite movies (The Outlaw Josey Wales), but just the type of nonsensical combination of words that is applicable to my goals of weight loss and personal transformation. Strive to persist; keep on keeping on. That's what I'm doing- moment by moment.

What keeps a person on a redundant path of exercise and moderation when past habits created a life of gluttony and self-indulgence? What, indeed?

This leg of my journey, almost five months long, has been remarkable. I've lost 88 pounds, can do more (physically) than I've been able to in years, can fit into clothes that I haven't worn in more than ten years, and have fewer aches and pains than I can remember. My life is transforming- one lap/rep/smoothie after another.

A boring repetition of healthy living.

People get bored with exercise all the time. Gyms that were crowded in January are all but empty by April. It happens- people, in general, are in a constant state of trying to improve for the moment only to settle back into old habits a short time later.

Am I any different? Only time will tell. I've experienced what I consider steps along a path to ultimate success; a journey that ends with me dying healthy (weird, huh?). My goal is to improve each and every day- until there are no more days, to reach my goal weight by my next birthday, to read more, improve my family relationships, etc.

So, again, what drives me? The promise of improvement beyond the mediocre, the absolute and interminable pain I've linked to what I deem as failure, and the palpable joy of what I deem success. The repetition of healthy living is not and cannot be boring because it is the means by which life becomes amazing.

The line from the movie goes something like this: Lone Watie (Josey Wales' Indian sidekick for part of the movie, and an awesome character) says, "We thought about it for a long time, "Endeavor to persevere." And when we had thought about it long enough, we declared war on the Union."

Well, I've thought about it a while and I've declared war on mediocrity, obesity, and anything less than an amazing life.