Wednesday Quotable

 

The only way to escape the abyss is to look at it, gauge it, sound it out and descend into it.

-Cesare Pavese

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Pay it Forward Friday

If you know me, you know I have a huge soft spot for animals. Yesterday, I learned of a horrific case of abuse and neglect committed against nearly 40 pit bulls in a home in L.A. discovered a few weeks ago, and I knew immediately that this would be the way I needed to pay it forward today. The details are just so awful, I won’t go into it here, but there are various news stories and photos if you are so inclined to dig deeper.

You see, I spend my work days listening to various talk radio programs on through Sirius XM. Sometimes it’s CNN, but these days I’ve been hooked on the Stars Channel and Radio Andy. Yep – I guess you could call it “trash radio” – but I love it. Much like most people I know, I’m tired of listening to the news, which is basically just endless election coverage, so these channels offer me a nice break. Well, yesterday, during Maria Menouno’s show, Conversations With Maria, she visited this story and had a representative from the organization that has taken in and cared for the surviving dogs – Wags and Walks – on the show. Mid-way through the conversation, Maria was so broken up by the events, that she could barely form words and just fell apart. I was so touched by her emotion, and most of all by the work that Wags and Walks has done to care for these dogs. While it sounds like they are doing so much better, and have bounced back rather quickly after being in such a horrendous environment, the dogs still need a lot of care and also foster homes.

While random acts of kindness are often about people, animals need help and reasons for “smiling” too. Today I chose to make a donation to Wags and Walks towards the care of these precious dogs, because not only is it about their recovery, but it’s also about lending support to the courageous people who have taken on the challenge and put their hearts and souls into the well-being of these dogs, and so many more in need of help. If you are looking for a way to pay it forward today, I encourage you to make a donation – if not to Wags and Walks, than to your local shelter or animal rescue. These innocent animals need to be protected, cared for, and loved.

Groggy Head

The alarm rang quite early this morning and my groggy head just couldn’t be bothered to lift up off the pillow. The plan was to get back on track with my plan to to hit the gym before work in the morning, but I’m having a good deal of difficulty getting things back in order after all the time off from being sick. I did get my first workout back in on Tuesday this week, but I’ve been down again since then. My cough is still at it, waking me up in the middle of the night, which creates enough of a disruption that sleep is difficult resulting in the groggy head lift problem.

Without the workouts, I’m also making some poor food choices and resorting to those after work drinks again. It’s such a vicious cycle and one that I know I need to break. Why is it so hard to get back into a routine again? It wasn’t so long ago that I was going at it full force. I keep telling myself that once I get rolling, the motivation will come right back – but telling myself and actually doing it are clearly two different things.

The barbell is calling my name – it’s just a little difficult to hear over this bugger of a cough. Here’s to hoping for restful sleep tonight.

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Wednesday Quotable

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.

-Muhammad Ali

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PRs and Celebrations

It’s the little things that mean a lot. Even my little 70# PR this morning – now that really means something to me. After over two weeks off of workouts while recovering from the pneumonia, I wanted to get out in the home gym and just get a little movement in this morning, and instead I ended up with a personal record on my push jerk. I almost didn’t even drag myself out of bed, I desperately wanted to just stay there and sleep. Getting back into the routine is tough, but today is my birthday and I told myself last night that I had to start this day off right…and it looks like I did.

There is really no other reason for this post, other than I wanted to celebrate – my upper body strength has always been a challenge, so hitting a PR at a point when my strength isn’t even at it’s best is definitely something worth celebrating. I hope your Tuesday shakes out to be just as good as mine is looking – push yourself to do something great today and it will be a good one!