Building a Better Jay

There is an age old question in my head that keeps popping out.  Are we shaped more by what is done to us or what we do to ourselves (ie the choices we make)?  Are we the product of society or is society the product of a mass of decisions made by people considering only their own well-being?  Interesting, thought-provoking stuff.

I read about people doing horrible things in the news and think: why?  Is it that person’s actions the result of some trauma that we just don’t see?  Or was it that the person simply made a choice to be that way.  (Keeping in mind that simply reacting to our surroundings without considering consequences - ie acts of passion - are still choices, albeit hastily made ones.)

In my opinion, what it comes down to is there are always choices.  You may not like either of the choices you are presented with, but you are the one making the choice.  If you survive some sort of abuse, you have a choice: you can either perpetuate that act, trying to gain some control by taking it from others, or you can choose to live your life in spite of that act, realizing that the act does not define you as a person.  The important thing to me is that we all make our own choices - even the act of not making a choice is in itself a choice!

For example, when we choose not to eat properly or exercise and sit on the couch eating bon-bons, trying to figure out how best to lose weight, we make the choice to do nothing at that time.  When you decide not to vote because you don’t know who to vote for, you make the choice to not take part in our electoral process.  In essence, the point is that not making a choice is making a choice!

Most importantly - own your choices!  When you hit snooze and decide not to workout, you are the one choosing not to do it - own that decision.  When someone asks why you didn’t get in your workout, realize that you prioritized sleep over your workout (not always a bad decision).  When someone asks why I work out at 4AM every day, I tell them that I prioritize my workouts above things like watching TV in the evening.  I also prioritize time with my son & wife higher than anything - so I workout when they are sleeping.  It’s what I want and I made the decision.  Shouldn’t we make every decision fall in line with our goals?  How else can we achieve them?

Christmas was great.  We totally forgot about the move and enjoyed the day.  I ate a lot of stuff that wasn’t "to plan", but I’m OK with that.  Heck, it’s Christmas!  I’m bulking, I won’t see some of my family again for 2 years.  I had to taste all the good things they had made for us!  We even got some home-made shortbread: a tradition in my wife’s Scottish family.  It is absolutely incredible and goes oh so well with a cup of black coffee. 

Enough of that, eh?

Today was my last leg day in my US gym.  Next week, I’ll be in a guest gym because my Lifetime membership expires at the end of the month.  I really do love Lifetime: friendly, clean, and every bit of equipment you could want - not to mention the 24 hour thing, which is a necessity when working out around a 3 year old’s schedule!

We have to go buy more luggage today and then we’ll spend the rest of the day cleaning & packing up.  This is getting very, very real now.  In 14 days, we’ll be starting our life in Germany!