Journeying Through Life

Another Life Update

Life has been scooting by even quicker now. I continue to pick up hobby after hobby and really try to fill my days as much as possible especially on weekends. Sometimes on the free weekends, which don’t happen too often, I can have anxiety about life. Too many things require my time and attention, even though in the whole life looked out from a greater lens, these days will be looked back upon fondly. About how much time I had to take care of things. Like exercise, cooking, cleaning, lawn care, playing video games, and having plenty of hobbies. Now that the quick overview is done let’s dig into my life.

Mental health.

This has been an okay journey so far, another summer flying by and this time last year, I was struggling hard. Couldn’t be at home, couldn’t relax, I was completely out of control. This year has been different. I have been able to stay up on most of my emotions but my relationship has been a bit rocky in how I react to things. I have been reactive for a few weeks now where I just take everything really personally and I feel how much stuff I do and then I look at her to see if it measures up. Not a great place to be. Doom scrolling has been a real problem. I will put items in the back seat even when they are necessary to get back into the easy comfort of scrolling on my phone. It doesn’t help anything. Kills my productivity. I would like to add chess back into my daily schedule instead of doom scrolling.

Physical Health

I have gained some weight and have entered the 210-220 plateau range where my unhealthy body weight lives. I feel slow. I get tired quicker. I feel like I am running with a 45-pound plate attached to me. This has not stopped me getting my miles in at work and my activity at home. I got an old new bike so that has been fun to dive into. I did 16.5 miles the other day and can’t wait to do more. I haven’t been running as much since I got the bike, but also with it storming almost every day I find myself doing more workouts at home. It is enough to not gain weight anymore as I have gotten more consistent, but I am really missing the huge goal that I get to accomplish at the end of the long training. I miss the long training days. Where it eats half my day, but I have an overwhelming feeling of pride and accomplishment and completely clear in the head. My maintenance workouts at home include pushups, sit-ups, jump rope, and pickleball in the garage. I can almost guarantee dripping in sweat in a 30–60-minute workout. My diet has gotten much worse with more and more going out to eat but overall, it is a moderately healthy lifestyle. To lose the weight I need to have a big workout on the weekend to burn through multiple days of calories but right now it is moderately healthy. I need to start training for my 2027 marathon… Even though it is a year and a half away. Maybe I can ask my special robot for a good training plan for that. The newest use of the fancy robot is trying to improve my golf swing. My manager at work helps some too to try and improve. This has helped as I went from high 120s to 110 immediately after fixing my grip. This was a huge jump. I played a full round a golf. Struggled in certain holes but still got a par at hole one which was…. Surprising…. Most of my contact was solid and I was able to bounce back after an awful five-hole stretch where I was just hoping for a double bogey. I ended the round with four bogeys with consistent driver play. I was able to get out of my own head and RELAX. That happened to be the best golf I’ve played. Take deep breaths and just don’t think anything of it. So, I don’t mess with my stance, with my grip, with the club positioning. I line up, take a practice shot and take my swing. During that round the most important part of my swing was the grip. I was able to hit some great shots and more importantly, more consistent contact. It was fun to see the progress that a couple of days made. I went to the range to have my WORST range day by far and the next day I played my best round of golf with one little change. Now I have gotten more tips and even set up a makeshift golf practice net in my garage. I don’t get full range of my shots, especially the follow through but I can still maintain good contact and mostly use it for pitching wedge so it isn’t all bad if I don’t follow through completely with it. Pickleball has taken a back seat with me getting more excited for golf. Which makes sense, I have always been pulled to golf and now I can play some in my house which has me feeling great.

I have enjoyed diving deep in different hobbies. Having a good time all while trying to get thinner and healthier just feels right and something I do not neglect. I do my walks at work, now walk a dog at home, and then do a bike ride, pickleball, golf, jump rope, pushups, or a run. Little bit of this, little bit of that. I would like to say that this is a new habit now, and one that I feel I will consistently do for the rest of my life.

Financial Health

It isn’t amazing by any means, but I keep chugging along through life with some wins. The month of July is the first month where I really started to see a difference in success. I am still very far from where I want to be, but I still feel good about where I am. Just keep chugging and things will open up. So many different money goals are pulling me in several directions so it can be hard to prioritize as I landed some good money which would allow me some freedom. Do I use it to expand my business? Buying some fun stuff for my hobbies to improve my home? Put more in the mortgage, fill out Roth IRA? There are so many different avenues to do. I might have to go to a different blog for those answers. Where are my priorities. My stocks have also been down and my investing percentage has been down for a few months now.

A new dog has been taken under my care, his name is Apollo, and he is six years old. I can’t believe he is six already, it seemed not too long ago where we just brought him home as a hyperactive puppy that had been through some trauma. Life has changed a little with him just to start out. Cleaning more than usual, buying more stuff, having to give him his heartguard. Water him, feed him, and train him some more. The first goal? Slowly socialize with visitors. Also, work on an emergency recall. One of the most important things to work on regarding safety. If he runs out the door. He needs a huge reward if he comes back. It needs to be the biggest reward he gets for listening. Chicken, steak, lots of kibble. His safety is the number one priority. I want him to be comfortable and safe.

 At the job, it is more of the same. Clock in, clock out. Doesn’t really set my world on fire but it pays the bills.

Overall, not a bad part of life. Things will begin to settle. I will keep improving and hopefully continue to build the life I want to live. Step by step.