2013/2014 Pt2: Health and Fitness

Having realised, in 2013, that taking on too many things is a bit dumb (yes, I know it's obvious, but that doesn't mean I have to expect/accept it), I'm thinking of taking advantage of a more sensible study schedule by taking on too many things.

I'm currently tossing up between adding Softball or Judo to Fencing as an extra sport this year.  They're both sports I have previously "played" (Softball being something we'd do at a cut-down level for school sports in primary school, Judo being something I did for a couple of years in high school).

Softball has the advantage of tapping into my current obsession with Baseball (but, hopefully, being a bit less blokey than Baseball was the last time I looked into it).  It also has a dual advantage/disadvantage of being a team sport, which would mean a level of commitment to other people that I usually avoid.  It will either be good for me in terms of my growth as a human being, or it will be the undoing of the whole thing.

Judo has the advantage of being reasonably useful as a self-defence thingy and the cheapest martial art available in The Ville.  It's also an individual thing so, like Fencing, I can miss a couple of sessions without disadvantaging anyone other than myself.  It has the disadvantage of being a lot less kicky and punchy than I was hoping.  When I was considering martial arts at the end of last year, I thought Judo would be a bit to pacifistic to be truly useful as a form of self-defence.

Taikwando would probably be closer to what I want than Judo, but Judo is cheaper, would fit into my existing schedule and tap into latent things half-remembered from childhood.

I just suspect I'd probably enjoy Softball more - useless though that may be as a form of self-defence.

And, speaking of useless martial arts, in 2013 I let Fencing slip a bit (well, a lot), so in 2014 I want to make more of an effort to actually pick up some skills and game time.

I'd still like to take up Lawn Bowls more seriously, but that's something I can come back to later.

I have an overall goal of building a better athletic base.  Whatever sports I end up doing, I want to feel as if I'm actually trying to be a decent athlete.  In 2012, when I started Fencing, I was really committed to building that base - but I let it slide when my workload jacked up in 2013.

I'm starting, perhaps counter-intuitively, with a short walk.  Everyday.  It's my goal to make it my "Normal" to step away from the computer and get outside for a walk (if nothing else) sometime between the hours of 1700 and 1800.

If I desire to replace that walk with a swim, a gym session or a run, then so be it.  If I legitimately have something else to do (desk shift) then that's okay, too.  But I'm going to make it a habit to get that walk in every day.

This will hopefully stop me saying "I'll go for a run this afternoon!" and then deciding that, because I don't want to get changed or I'm a bit too tired for an actual run, I just won't do anything.  Instead, everyday (God willing), I'll just stand up and leave the building.

In terms of other health related things, my goal for 2014 is to make more of my own junk food (so it's slightly less junky), and be kinder to myself in regards to what I put into my mouth.

Whether or not I take on anything new, it's my primary goal to take the things I'm already doing and try to be just a bit better.

2013/2014, Pt1: Studies

Well, 2013 was a bit of a bust, in the end.  I deliberately bit off more than I could chew, just to see if I'd rise to the challenge.

A little bit yes, and a little bit no.

On reflection, I gave myself too much to do in the one year - which actually didn't work out as badly as it could have, all things considered.

I think, if I hadn't been stupid enough to take Education (with a capital E) subjects again (knowing, as I do, that I'm well shot of them), it wouldn't have gone to brown so badly towards the end.  The practicum was one straw too many - the kind of challenge that needed a lot more from me than I had left in the tank to give.  Without that, I probably would have survived my stupid workload after all.

This year I've resolved to scale back my insane plans and only take two subjects a semester instead of three.  In the end, I started to let my actual job slip down on my list of priorities, and I wasn't happy about that.  I know this means I'm going to have to keep studying for another trimester longer than I had planned, but that gives me the opportunity to take a subject that isn't offered in 2014.

2014 will see me return to a mode of study where no one gets hurt (except my pride) if it turns out I miscalculated what I can do.  I like it better when the worst that can happen is I scrape by with a Pass.

I'm also going to try to apply a few more of the Autonomous Learning practices I keep telling my students to use.  I think the only reason I did as well as I did last year was because I was being tactical about my studies.  This year, I'm going to try to build on that.  See if I can be just a little bit better.