Bloody Resolutions

For the first time, I've maintained a New Year's resolution for the whole year. I don't recall ever doing that before, certainly not for a resolution that was specific, rather than the "I will be a kinder person this year" type of vague promise that any lawyer could drive a truck through. No, for 2017 I resolved not to fall over, and I did it.

I've sat down quite heavily, but always on a chair and one I intended to occupy, if not so precipitously. My arm flies out often to help me keep my balance and I'm no stranger to the windmill flail of a gymnast trying to stick a landing, just with much less grace. Turning has meant some fancy footwork (from my left) when my right foot has decided to land in a very unhelpful spot, but for a whole year (and since then) I have not fallen.

This may not seem like a big deal, and for most, it isn't. Not falling is like breathing: something that we shouldn't have to think about in most circumstances; it's automatic. Over the last few years, however, gravity has taught me that I do need to concentrate, and for me, not falling will never again be automatic. Instead, the preparation and calculation when I stand up, turn or just walk must always happen, and that is on it's way to becoming automatic. It's faster now, but there will always be a delay when I get moving; I always have to think about it consciously.

"I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go oe'r." (Macbeth)

Making that mental preparation, rather than assuming that I can turn around without ending up on the ground, is boring. If moving can't be automatic again then the siren call of the sedentary response is even more alluring: if moving is a hassle, don't move. This has it's consequences, though. Brains develop by having to work, even with physical things (we just, mostly, get the boring repetitive stuff out of the way when we're little kids), so choosing not to move inherently limits healing. Also, doing nothing makes me fat and unhealthy. The very condition caused by having a stroke makes behaviours tempting that in turn increase the likelihood I'll have another. It's a trap!

A year ago, I had no expectation that I'd make it the whole year, just intentions. At some point, I'd gone so long without falling that merely having to start again would have been painful, as well as the physical discomfort of having fallen. By the last few days of the year, I was determined not to waste my efforts, although such 'waste' makes no objective sense. Now, a new year has begun, and I'm just as determined to maintain my resolve and not fall.

However, I've already made it a year, demonstrating to myself both that I am able to not fall for a whole year, and that I have the stubbornness to sustain a resolution. It would be foolish not to use the latter for further gain, especially to counteract pitfalls; resolving to eat a packet of biscuits (cookies) every week would easy, bad and delicious.

Last year was tough for me; I was depressed and news (local and international) has been appalling. I've found it hard to see anything ahead but doom and consequently had little motivation beyond the hedonistic. As a result, I find myself at the start of 2018 fat and unfit which is a downwards spiral, since exercise increases serotonin levels and makes one happier, as well as fitter and less likely to die.

So, for 2018, I've added to my resolution. I'm still adamant that I won't fall over, but in addition I've resolved to go to the gym at least three times a week and do some exercise. If I don't go three times and could have then my falling resolution is failed: I'm leveraging the tedium already spent to require further tedium. I am in blood so far stepped in... It helps to know that in a few months, going to the gym won't be a chore any more, but one of the ways I've failed before is when my routine has been disrupted; it's been trivial to routinely not go to the gym after a valid event to prevent me going. The resolution addendum, therefore, is not absolute: I know, for example, that I won't be able to go to the gym at the end of February because I'll be on a boat in Norway, but the addendum will require me to go back to the gym when I return.

This time next year we'll find out if my resolve is stronger than my indolence.

Don't Kid Yourself, Push Yourself

I just got back from the pool again, but instead of swimming for two hours, I only swam one. 2,100m in an hour, breast stroke, isn't too shabby for a brain damaged old fart like me, but I would rather have been swimming lengths for twice as long without pause.

Alas, it is a sunny day and right in the midst of resolution season, so at noon the pool filled up. I've mentioned before that I become extremely intolerant in the pool, and that does not seem to be something that is changing. I'm not trying to change it, either. I spent much of the hour I did manage to swim dodging the pair having a leisurely chat while ambling up and down the pool, mostly keeping out of the way of the guy who swam, turned and repeated (me).

In the middle of this, ungenerous thoughts filled my mind, often along the lines of "get out of my damn way," with a sprinkling of "your screw kick is horrible" for good measure. One thought is applicable to anyone gripped by resolution fervor but feeling the drudgery of slow progress, or the gradual sapping of their will, and it was exemplified by the slow pair in the pool: "stop kidding yourself!"

The duo were maintaining a steady and unfettered chat throughout their 'exercise.' They were not short of breath (they were nattering for England), and if they were warm at all, it was because the pool is too hot. They might as well have been having a cup of coffee instead. They certainly don't deserve any plaudits for working.

It's an easy trap to fall into: "it used to be difficult, but is easy now, it must be enough". Complacency is a surefire way to stop making any progress, though. If you have enough breath to maintain a conversation while swimming you are either phenomenally fit or you are deluded and doing it wrong.

As we get fitter, what was once hard becomes easier. Great! That means we have to work harder to get the same effect. It should never be trivial, it will always be hard work. Deal.