There comes a point when routine can trap you. I find myself working out my daily routine down to the minute. If I wake up at 6:22 and am out of the shower and dressed by 6:50 I can make the 7:13 train which means I am in the city by 7:46 and can get the 4:05 train home. That puts me in the house at 5:15 which gives me four hours to do...
And that's when I realize, I am timing everything perfectly to get home and do exactly what I do all day. Sit, stare, repeat. I wake up tired in the morning, but my complete and utter inactivity all day long leaves me wide awake at night. This however contradicts my motivation. While I have too much energy to fall asleep early, I have no motivation to do anything other than get home immediately and lounge.
Another thing I wish I did more of but cannot seem to is read. I get really interested in stories and pick up books but have a hard time getting into them and finishing them. Ever since college, opening a book is like taking an Ambien. I just pass out, without realizing it, after 5 minutes of reading.
This past weekend, while in NY, I borrowed the Scott Pilgrim series from my roommate. The movie is coming out, I had hear great things before, and it is something light. I figure, I can start small. I don't have to start reading historical non-fiction. If I can get used to sitting on the train at 7 am and reading for that 40 minute ride without falling asleep, maybe I can move on to novels later. The comics are fast paced enough and engaging enough that I am able to stay alert (for the most part) the entire ride. Hopefully after I get through the entire series (takes about a day per book and theres 4 more to go after today) I can move to something a bit more dense, or even more graphic novels. Regardless, I want to use this time to read, and I am making a serious effort to train my brain to do so.
Back to the inactivity - I am not a gym person. I have been to gyms in the past. By the past I mean when I was 12 or 13 and would tag along with my dad because I liked sports then and thought it was exciting to go to the gym. It was one of those "I'm old enough to do something adults/athletes do now" mentality. I maybe went 5 times total over several months before I stopped caring.
Flash to present and I still have that 'who cares' mentality when it comes to being in shape. I don't to do anything physically to keep from gaining weight and so staying in shape for my lifestyle seems silly. That has always been my mentality. It still remains that way. However, I have recently decided that going to the gym affords me with the following - A. Something else to do at night except sit more and watch more screens and B. An energy outlet that will hopefully leave me tired enough at the end of the night so that I can get a good rest in and not be up until 12:30 or 1 am. If, after this, I am in better shape or a bit healthier then so be it. But, if it does not satisfy those first two, this gym thing might be short lived.
Side note: funny how most comic personalities on shows/in cartoons are depicted as out of shape/overweight and yet in my case they go hand in hand as far as getting on track with positive things.
(and if you are going to scoff at my reading of comics as my reading activity, feeling as though comics are not a legitimate source of literature then clearly you are ignorant to an entire genre.)
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