Day Forty: "The Forty Thieves"

The thieves are stealing my sleep! I just want to clarify that the title is not in any way meant to be offensive. I am playing on the number 40 and my work depriving me of sleep.

With that out of the way, I feel very lucky today. I know I should feel lucky everyday. But the fact of the matter is, I don't always. I tend to be hard on myself. I beat myself up a lot when things don't go well, especially at work. There is an opportunity cost involved when that happens. Tuesday was rough and so I was feeling so down that I turned down an invitation to go see a basketball game in the Japanese pro-league here, for a team owned by the firm where many of my friends work. Turns out I missed a 22-point comeback in the final 6 minutes, complete with a 35-foot, buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win it. D'oh! But my mind was not in the right place. And I was angry. Raging angry during my jump-rope. At one point of frustration at whipping myself in the head for the fourth time in a short while, I snapped and threw my rope across the parking lot in anger. One good thing that has come out of the PCP for me has been a more stable mood, but this was a clear lapse there. I got over it fairly quickly, but I guess I still have blips.

Right, so getting back to the main point of my post. I've been all over the world and seen all sorts of living conditions. I visited a bunch of Zambian villages last May and their overcrowded kindergartens, etc., with supplies like soap, toothpaste, candy for the kids to donate to them in tow. But today I was a bit shaken by the story of the 19-year old Japanese boy who was rescued from the rubble of the quake in New Zealand; he survived and will live, but had to have his leg amputated on the spot to be pulled out. For some reason, the thought of this resonates with me a lot. I am very grateful for the health that I have now. And for having the ability to do all the sports and physical activity I want.

I feel like I owe it to that boy and to the millions of other people out there who are in a similar boat to take the best care of my body that I can. I am lucky to have all my limbs and physical ability. It's not fair of me to abuse it, neglect it, and let it rot when so many others would love to have what I have. So, with this project, hopefully I rededicate myself to taking care of my body and health from now on. I won't always be in this PCP mode, but I will certainly think before I make choices in the future. I am lucky.