I don’t know about you, but I gave up making New Year resolutions many years ago. In fact, deciding to stop making them may be the only one I have ever actually kept in the long term.
Resolutions usually involve stopping doing something we feel we shouldn’t do, like smoking or eating too much, or starting to do something we feel that we should, like taking exercise, but while they may be a laudable idea, most of us give in within weeks or even days of making them.
If you are one of the many millions of people who have made a resolution or two, I hope you can find the determination to be able to keep them. My only question would be, why, if you have something so important, that it becomes the subject of a resolution, did you leave it until New Year to decide to do it?
It seems to be a recurring story, but for so many of people I know, with the exception of a couple of high points, 2013 has been a year of sadness, and another one that most will be happy to see the back of.
Since my birthday last month I have been on my bike every single day, either out and about, or more recently, with the colder shorter days, indoors on my training rollers. Now training rollers are a great way of staying fit, but compared to being out in the countryside, they are B-O-R-I-N-G, pedalling away for hours each week.
Being good at something isn’t just about talent, it’s about having the desire, in your heart, to make it happen. Ichinen is a Japanese word meaning determination (amongst other things). If you have a strong Ichinen, you are far more likely to reach your goal. You still have to put in the effort and in fact, the more talent you have, the more effort is needed, because your end result might be far more exacting than a less talented person.
There is no self-improvement without effort.
If you think about it, although we may not be destined to die five minutes from now, we are all, without exception, going to die at some point. We can count on it 100%. There is nothing surer than this.
Today has been fantastic, the sun shone, the sky was blue and although it wasn’t exactly tropical, the conditions for going over to Swanage for the Wiggle MTB event were pretty much perfect. The ground had dried up considerably from the mud-fest of last week, so I even managed to do my favourite circuit whilst staying a bit cleaner.
So even though it was tempting to accept the generous offers of test rides, I politely declined. I didn’t see the point in risking making myself dissatisfied with my own bike. I was very pleased with the free gifts that the lady from Wiggle gave me. A nice new water bottle and a pair of handlebar grips, that perfectly match the colour of my frame.
Determination grows out of adversity. To accomplish an easy or pleasant task does not require determination, it is the difficult or unpleasant task that most definitely does.
Well the weekend has been perfect for any kite flying aficionados living in Dorset, to say it has been windy is a huge understatement. Despite the breeze, I was keen to get out on the bike, having been unable to do so since last weekend.
It’s exactly six months since the start of my dieting and cycling regime and I’m pleased to be able to claim a degree of success. On May 1st I weighed in at exactly 100kg, 15st 11lb in old money or 220lbs.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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