Obligatory Post

And here we are, bringing a rapid close to the year of 2010. This year has been quite a journey for me, and I'm sure for you all, as well. We're now at an end of it, for better or for worse, and we all are out to party with friends, or be with our family, or even staying at home with a loved one, ushering in the New Year together in a sentimental way. However you all wish to spend it, I hope it's safe and awesome for you.

This has been quite a busy year. In the past 365 days, I have gone through a good bit, and a surprisingly small amount of it was bad. I have seen myself go through some serious attitude changes. I have become more responsible, and dependable. I have written more in this span of 355 days than I have in three years combined. I have also met some of the coolest people ever.

Now, I'm not sure how anybody reading this traditionally spends their New Year's Eve. I'm not very big on tradition, as any member of my family will tell you. It's not that I'm necessarily a scrooge, but I don't really understand why tradition is important. While that could be a post in and of itself, that will have to wait for another time (though, more likely, the idea will float off into the ether and cease to be). Tonight, there's one particular tradition that's on my mind, and that's the tradition of the Near Year Resolution, or as I like to call it, the Annual Lie.

Every year, we all set these resolutions for trying to be a better person. We are all constantly striving for that one thing that we think we really want. Some of us even go so far as to pray for it... The problem is, I don't think that we're asking for - or about - the right things.

In my experiences, real change doesn't come from some arbitrary desire to stop a bad habit or some misplaced desire to right a character flaw. These are good things, don't me wrong, but I don't get why we want to change these things for the new year. Why not start addressing them as you become aware that these are real issues? Why the procrastination?

Listen: I'm not saying that you're all lying to yourselves. I'm not that arrogant. But I can't help but to wonder how many of you have actually kept your promises to yourself. I also wonder if you were really making the resolutions for yourself, or were you doing it for others?

You can't really expect to change if it's for someone else. Not by any substantial means, anyhow. The only reason for you to change is because you really want to change. So before you all go about making these resolutions half-heartedly, I urge you all to think about who the resolution is really for. That's all I ask.

I'll shut up, now. I didn't want this to be a long post, but I couldn't help but to get on my soap box for just a minute. Here's to intoxicating ourselves to levels not only unreasonable, but also potentially unsafe.

Cheers.

Time Bomb

A blank stare on your face, because reality as you know it has just crumbled around you. Life was good, and suddenly, you're stuck facing a brick wall and it seems like there's no way out.

At first, you turn around and look behind you. You've left nothing in your path but a wave of destruction and emotional turmoil. You want nothing to do with it anymore, but where can you possibly go?

A normal person in these circumstances would go rely on someone else to get them out of trouble. They would seek out the comfort of family and friends. Me, personally? I run straight into the wall, and self-destruct.

Many people seem to be alarmed by this kind of behavior. Sure, it's a rather dangerous process, as you start putting your mind and body through sheer hell throughout the ordeal, but there is definitely something to be gained from it all in the end. Honestly, it's no different than anything else you do to yourself to make yourself healthier and better.

When we gain weight, we go on a diet. The first thing that any real diet (Atkins was not a diet) has you do is a total purge of your system. Not everybody adheres to the water requirements of this part of the diet, and soon learn their lesson on it. The entire point of this part is to get as much waste out of it as you can. A kind of systemic flush.

This process is not gentle, nor is it easy. The mind suffers more than anything, because you're fighting against yourself the entire way. You're trying to convince yourself that all of the discomfort and non-filling meals are going to be worth it in the end. Anybody who has gone through with this will tell you that the biggest hurdle is yourself.

After dieting, people typically start exercising to get fit, so that they can really fill out their new form. Some people take up running/jogging. Others do things like bike riding, weight lifting, or even just simple exercises that can be done around the house (like stretching). Have you people any idea what's happening during all of this?

Every time you stretch, you are tearing your muscles to shreds, and they regrow more flexible than last time. This is how people can get as flexible as they are. Even a relatively fat person can get this flexible with constant stretching. The same is said for when you're jogging, only now you're also running the risk of bone spurs in your shins. Weight lifting? Yep. Same thing.

Every single thing that we do to better ourselves physically, we are putting our body through hell. We are literally destroying it so that it comes back better. Why can't the same be said for our mentality and personality? From what I'm seeing here, there is no better way to make yourself better than to destroy it, first.

The trick is knowing which pieces of yourself to pick back up, and which ones to leave behind.