To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
Buddha

I had a friend ask me what this blog and especially what I’m doing at this point in my life.  At first I wanted to say that I wanted to lose weight and get in shape but after a few seconds I thought about where I’m at and revised that.

Year and a half back I retired from a job that I had done for thirty-seven years.  The stress of that and my brother dying at the time was incalculable.  Six months later he died.  I did what I could.  Shortly after my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer.  Over the past year I’ve watched the person that I’ve admired more than anything fade, ever so slowly.

Back in 1997 my older sister developed a brain tumor and a year later died.  The very next  year my older brother developed colon cancer, the same cancer that has killed numerous people in the family.  He died of a heart attack during treatment.  All three of my siblings died at the age of 48.

I see this weight loss, this cycling, this effort of mine as a coping mechanism.  I see it as a way of taking back some kind of control.  As I age I realize how little control we have over our lives.  I’ll do what I can.