100 years huh?

This is Sara.

So, I am not much for motivational speakers (in fact parts of the "speech" were actually intellectually excruciating) but the kick-off speaker for the Golds Gym challenger this year did bring up a good question: How would you change your life if you knew that you were going to live to 100 years old?

Now at first, because of the participatory stand up, sit down, and shout outs common to most all motivational moments, I didn't really think too much about this question. Yeah, yeah, live to 100...I'm hungry. But then he put up a slide that had more than exercise, chiropractic adjustments (what? He was a Chiropractor...so what did i expect.), and of course a personal trainer. The other items were Relationships, Work, Time, Goals, etc. I hadn't initially thought about those. But really, if you knew you had some extra decades to count on how would it change things for you, but how?

Exercising and eating right are way up there. Think about this: What if you ate pesticide and processed food like substances for 80 years. McDonald's once a week, that extra piece of cake, those daily diet coke neuro-toxin cocktails, or the three beers you have after work all the time. 80 years...80 years of it. That's pretty gross. Or 80 years of the work, come home, and sit, watching TV, or on the computer. 80 years of sitting on your ass.

Okay, so there is that. Then there is: If I have so long...what kind of relationship am I interested in? That is a long time to spend with one person so the choice seems a little more serious. And there are a couple choices there too. You can be single, choosing your partners one at a time over your life, taking time to get to know them and get to know your self with them. Or you can find "the one." Or you can just stay single and live just for you. So, there is more thought to put into that one for me.

Then, you have work. Which means 80 years or maybe 60 that you are likely to spend. I immediately felt more picky about the type of work that I want. About where I want to be in the next few years in terms of position, type of work, financial goals, and you get the idea.

How about school? I suddenly felt simultaneously a relaxed, all the time in the world, sort of feeling to take my time with subjects and a "ah man! That means I would have time for political science, study abroad, teaching, and maybe discover something new in a favorite field!"

As you can see it could on like his for a while. Certain big things don't seem so big and certain small things seem much bigger. That was a nice feeling.

And now it is time for the fitness challenge to officially start.

Today I had a half turkey sandwich (local turkey, with cheese, no fancy dressings) and a ceaser salad, 5 cups of coffee, a bowl of organic vege soup in tomatoe, and two peices of whole grian organic wheat toast with brummel and brown butter. And of course I am sipping a glass of wine. Oh...and 6 cigarettes. I am counting down those as well. I drank about 2.5 liters of water which included a large bottle of mineral water.