Shortly after my 50^th birthday, having realized that I have lived at least half of my life, I had to ask myself how I wanted to life the rest of my life. Did I really want to stay on the same path? Severely obese, medical issues, a low self-body image, mild depression and a diminished quality of life, and lest I forget, to quote my doctor, “The very real possibility of not living long enough to see your youngest graduate college”.    

That one pronouncement, delivered by someone I trust, “rocked my world”, as they say.   After I got past the anger, guilt, and pain and questions: What happened? When did I loose control? When did I give up? How did I get to this point? What do I do now?  Can I change course? Is there hope?, I decided I could and would change.  I began to take new steps with the first one being my Gastric Bypass surgery.  

I have set moderate goals; I want to do simple things, effortlessly, like tie my shoes and put on socks, pick up something I’ve dropped or walk and breathe at the same time. I hope to go on bike rides, hikes, walks, even amusement park rides with my family and to take my Granddaughter to the park. I want to fit in any car or plane seat and be able to go anywhere and know I can fit, whether it is an office waiting room, theater, ball park, restaurant, or wherever. I want to be able to find clothes and most importantly, cross my legs!

In the movie Shawshank Redemption one character challenges another to either “Get busy living or get busy dying”.  I feel like this is my chance at redemption, to “get out of prison” to begin traveling a new path, one that lets me get busy living.