Year of the Charley Horse

A Charley Horse is a sudden painful, involuntary muscle cramp, or spasm, that can occur in any muscle in the body. In 2013, I was driven and motivated right around the New Year, by a deep-seated rage that had simmered inside me for over a year and a half. It unleashed enough force to release me from a toxic and loveless marriage and then propel me, and my two children, 1400+ miles west, to attempt to naturally stave off the Great Depression, and return to college to finish my degree and get on with my life.

I succeeded in gaining a divorce and therefore my freedom. I did, after a few bumps in the road, settle down on my own in Texas. I have gone back to college and am on a fast track to finishing my degree in 3 years or less because honestly, ain’t nobody got time for that 4yr plan. Unfortunately, that fast track means that going to the gym went the way of the dodo when I added the complication of a work study program to my schedule. At any rate, 2013 goes down in my book as a WIN.

It is officially the start of the second month of 2014 and I have not made any resolutions this year because 2013 was a hard act to follow.

Someone I know told me last week that they don’t make any resolutions for the new year until after the Super Bowl. Really? I asked them why and they told me that it was way easier to maintain new changes after Super Bowl Weekend. Makes sense, especially if those changes involve anything around getting healthy. There is nothing healthy about Super Bowl Weekend. It is the (new) holiday of excess. Wings, pizza, beer. None of those things reflect a healthy start. And it’s just not the Super Bowl without a bunch of snacks and brews.

This year it just so happens that Super Bowl weekend coincides with the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations. What an auspicious time! I should capitalize on this happy alignment and seek to turn over a new leaf for Monday morning. I wouldn’t, however, place a bet on that eventuality.

It is more likely that this, the Year of the Horse, I will require a swift kick to the proverbial ass to get motivated enough to knock 2014 out of the park.