Can you “make”
new year resolutions?
In January of this year (2018) I decided to keep my streak going of not making new year resolutions. I figure if “everybody’s doing it”, then it’s a good idea not to do it. But I did set 3 goals for myself, and this is to let you know…I failed those goals. Miserably. When I say “miserably”, I mean that figuratively and literally. Allow me to explain.
Life derailed my new year resolutions for 2018
Now, when I say “life derailed”, I’m not talking about the life I received from my Creator. I’m talking about the everyday circumstances of living in a fallen and broken world. And if you’re reading (or listening to) this right now, you’ve been derailed by life, too. No one can avoid issues. So, having “issues” didn’t make me special. This ain’t no poor, poor, pitiful me party.
By the way…I’m only sharing this with you to help you understand something important. New year resolutions can be pulled out from under you like a new rug on a freshly waxed hardwood floor. So, it’s vital to be flexible and durable instead of attempting to be invincible.
You’re only as strong as your weakest link.
Have you ever heard that? It’s a truism. Not a fast and hard rule. But in my case, this past year, it was true. And in the “spirit of transparency”, as so many book writers and online marketers like to say, my weakest link is my heart.
It was only fairly recently I discovered, through some seemingly unrelated medical tests, I have a “bicuspid aortic valve” in my heart. I’m not gonna bore you with the details. It just means the aortic valve of my heart has two flaps where it should have three. Apparently it’s a fairly rare thing. Only about 1-2% of the population deal with it.
For most of my life I didn’t know about my heart’s “condition”. So, I’ve oftentimes physically exerted myself above and beyond normal. Like hauling 1200-1500 bales of hay in the Kansas summer heat when I was a teenager. Or like when I used to load my Rudolph Aeolian upright piano into my pickup…alone.
According to tests and my recent research, as I continue to age I need to be much more aware of my health and not over exert my heart. A bicuspid aortic valve tends to get “leaky” with age and exertion. As that happens, the heart can’t move the blood and oxygen through the body as efficiently as it should. And that can cause fluid to back up and actually cause problems in the lungs. And that leads me back to my new year resolutions for this past year.
My weakest link became my strongest foe.
I’ve always been a doggedly determined guy. I wasn’t always the strongest, or smartest, or wealthiest. But I WAS almost always the most determined. That’s what kept me going during those 18 hour hay-hauling days. And that’s what gave me the strength to lift a piano by myself.
But in January of this year (2018) I caught a cold.
Or, so I thought. It felt like a cold. It acted like a cold. And I kept working as though I’d just eat right and drink plenty of fluids and I’d be over it in a few days.
Wrong.
I’ve literally been sick for all of 2018.
This negatively affected my three main goals for this year: to write an article a day, a song a week, and a book a month.
None of that happened. Fatigue and focus don’t mix.
Elgielene and I have been working on getting me well. Don’t misunderstand. I haven’t been bedridden or lying around on a couch watching Netflix while eating soup and crackers. Far from it. I’ve been working every day. And some of that work probably contributed to my ongoing inability to overcome my “cold”. (That’s another story)
No rest for the weary.
In all of 2018 I’ve probably only had about two full nights of sleep.
