Where were you one year ago today?
I’m usually not good at questions like that unless it’s a catastrophic event of some kind. One year ago today I had my own catastrophic event. I found myself sprawled out on the blacktop trying to convince a concerned security guard I was not drunk. Just clumsy.
Yep. This was the day I took a nose dive out of the Big Rig onto the blacktop. It happened at Mission Bay RV Park just a few campsites from where we’re parked today.
The time was about 10:00 pm. I was taking my dog Rigby out for her final potty break. Other Half heard the thud. I’m sure he also heard me scream. It happened so fast all I remember is starting out the door. The next thing I know I was up close and personal with the blacktop.
The good news is I didn’t land on Rigby. I also didn’t break my wrist or my face trying to break my fall. I don’t think breaking my fall ever crossed my mind.
The bad news is I immediately knew my ankle was toast.
Other Half stayed calm. He’s good in a crisis. At first he wanted to pick me up and get me back into the Big Rig. Not a good plan. He had major back surgery a few years ago. The last thing he needed was to hoist my serious keester off the ground.
No choice but to call 911 and hope they don’t arrive with sirens blaring. The pain wasn’t too bad except for my pride. I felt like an uncoordinated doofus. While we waited for the EMTs, I put my ankle back in place – sort of.
Speaking of my keester, it was in the ER at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California where I found out I was mildly obese. Humph. Not exactly good news considering I was over a month into my FitBit Frenzy.
FitBit Frenzy is what I dubbed my newly found ‘Get Healthy’ obsession. Ok, I admit it, getting healthy was only p-a-r-t of my obsession. The real obsession was to drop the tonnage I’d been steadily accumulating. I couldn’t stand how I felt. More precisely, I couldn’t stand how I felt about how I looked.
My FitBit Frenzy was born out of a realization. It won’t sound like much, but for me it changed everything. Here it is: There’s only so much I can control – and the things I can control – I’m going to control.
I can’t control my not-great heredity. I can’t control my AARP level age. I can’t undo decades of hit and miss health choices.
But going forward I can control what I put in my mouth. I can control my alcohol consumption. I can control my exercise level.
This realization about what I could and couldn’t control led me to make a choice. My choice was to stop focusing on the things I can’t control and start focusing on the things I can control. Out of that choice my FitBit Frenzy was born.
In case you’re wondering, my FitBit Frenzy has become a way of life. And it has also moved my keester out of the mildly obese range. As far as my ankle goes, it’s much much better. I’m back to riding my bike and work daily to hit my 10K steps. Life is good.