3 Buckets

The original purpose of this blog is that I want to knock 3 things off of my "Bucket List." In addition to the journey towards accomplishing these things, I know that there will be other things along the way which I will want to accomplish, and I hope to also throw in plenty of humor, thoughts on life and other things which may entertain only me.

Now, let's get started (and I warn you, I am going to be getting deep right from the start), the (first?) 3 things I want to knock off my bucket list are:

1) Quit smoking. If there was one thing in my life I would go back and change, it would be having ever picked up my first cigarette. As my friends and family will tell you, I have struggled with smoking since before I was even legally able to buy a pack. I know that this is terrible for my health, and it kills me (literally) that I can't stop. As anyone who has ever smoked will tell you, the physical addiction is only part of it- the routine is also hard to break. I think about smoking when I am driving, walking, bored, hungry and stressed out to name a few. I am hoping to break these habits, and I expect that this is going to be the hardest thing to do.

2) Reach my "ideal body weight." I don't think that I will ever be skinny, that much I can accept. However, I am not sure that I have ever been comfortable at the beach with my shirt off and I hope that one day I can be. I know that much of this fear is not so much how I appear to others, but more how I feel about myself. That being said, I can certainly stand to lose a few pounds, and I hope that I will one day not have to worry that my gut is hanging over my bathing suit.

3) Run a half-marathon. There was a day when my thoughts on running were "why wear yourself out just to end up back where you started?" (This thinking obviously contributed to my weight problem...) However, it was not too long ago that I was biking 7 miles a day and running 3.5 when I got home. Therefore, I signed myself up for a half-marathon, which I will run with one of the people on this planet that I respect and admire more than anyone else- my girlfriend, Tricia. I imagine that crossing the finish line with her (ok, maybe eleven seconds ahead of her...) will be one of the best moments of my life.

Why am I spilling my guts out to everyone in the world on this blog? Because I know that it will keep me honest. These 3 things are things I have been trying to accomplish for longer than I can remember, and I know that by putting it out there for the world to see, I am going to have to be accountable for them. And the second logical question is "why now?" The answer to this question is a little more complicated, but put simply, I know that by completing all three of these things will make me healthier and hopefully I will live longer as a result of them. Additionally, I have more going for me now than I ever have before (hence the homage in the blog title to the awesomely titled Timbuk3 song): I love my job and where it is taking me, I have a lot of great friends and a tremendous family and, for the first time in my life, I have a girlfriend who has filled a gaping void in my life.

Therefore, I am enjoying my last couple hours of being a "lazy, overweight smoker," and beginning tomorrow (April 1st), I will be attempting to go smoke-free. Followed soon afterward (after a weekend away), I am going to eat healthier. And to top it all off, on Tuesday, I begin my training for the half-marathon (my first run is a 3-miler at about 5:30am, anyone want to join me?). I know that this journey won't be an easy one, but I also know that I won't be going it alone. Here's to my first step in what hopes to be an amazing journey.