Getting older sucks. Plain and simple. Recently I was diagnosed with arthritis in both my knees. I’ve got pain in my hip and pain in my lower back. I need to get all those addressed. It limits my range of motion and what I’m able to do.

I’m not dead. I will still try and push myself as much as I can. What I’m doing is learning what my limits are. For example, I cannot keep up with my wife on a long walk on a hard surface. Just isn’t going to happen.

However, on a trail with lots of turns, steps, bridges, streams, I can almost keep up with her. And to get past many of the obstacles, we need to work together in order to get past them. I’m thankful to have her in my life even if I joke that she’s trying to kill me with hikes.

For myself, I know that I need to take Advil or Tylenol before we take one of these adventures. I need to take myself, plan my steps, and find alternate routes when the path looks challenging. I took a few bad steps and my knees let me know instantly that wasn’t where I needed to put my foot. I took things slow. I know now that I need a hiking stick for these adventures to help support myself when taking those big steps that might hurt when I come down unsupported.

Much of this applies to writing as well. I’m not getting as many words down as I’d like to. I need to access what’s preventing me from doing that. At the moment, it’s all the other activities I’m throwing into my schedule. I’m getting up early and working and trying to cram everything into the evening. EVERYTHING!

Well, I’m shifting my schedule around. I’ll get getting up earlier so I can get my workout done before I start work. That will free up an extra hour in the evening. It’ll take some pressure off and I’ll be able to spend more time in the evening writing.

I’ve said this before, but I’m planning on writing 5 days per week. I’m getting less than 1000 words per day right now and I’d like to step that up to at least 2000 per day. I feel that’s an achievable goal. It’s learning my current limitations and taking steps to move past them. We’ll see how it goes.

Until Next Time!

Stay Awesome!