January 3rd in Posso's Prompts

Throwback Thursday! What’s one resolution you made in the past that you remember keeping?

I remember one that I was extremely proud of. I was 17 and supremely out of shape. I was looking for something to do and I had always enjoyed running with my friends but I wasn’t very fast. It never stopped me from going out and running miles in my dinky little countryside. Like I said, I had always ran with my friends in cross country and track but that was only to hang out, so that year, I had decided that I was going to run all year round. I had went out and bought all of the running journals and entry books I could find and actually kept track of my mileage for the whole year. Now mind you I was 17, thinking I needed to find love immediately, wishing my penis would grow enough to have someone take my virginity in the back of a pickup truck (or in my case my parents pristine Chrysler LeBaron convertible) and dealing with trying to fit in as a smart kid with a smart mouth and a set of boobs that made maturing girls jealous - Typical high school emotional baggage and insecurities - but, holy shit, when I first was able to run with an anti-skip CD player I was done. I’d run in 0° weather with a facemask; run in 8 inches of snow; I’d go for a long run and jump in Spooner Lake. I wasn’t very good, never fast at all, so uncoordinated at times that I would trip and fall into the ditches on the roadside, stumble down hills while mumbling “what the fuck am I doing?” But I have to admit, from what I remember, that was one of the least stressful times, or years, that I can remember. Sure, it didn’t change being a hormonal stressed out teenager, it did promote one of the most positive ways I would reduce stress and sometimes I catch myself saying, “maybe I should just go for a run” when I’ve come back from a long day or left a stressful situation.

It sometimes seems silly to set goals. Also, many people can’t help but set unrealistic and extreme resolutions they know they will never meet. What some people don’t realize though, is how healthy it is to fail and yet be successful. I’d never be Steve Prefontaine but it brought me a sense of peace and I hated that I loved running. I wouldn’t ever win a marathon. I would feel healthier. Probably couldn’t out sprint a robber. The fact that you at least have the ‘flight’ option in ‘fight or flight’ is probably a good enough thing. Years, injuries, cancer, and stupid drunk sex accidents (oh, thr broken hip still aches when a storm is moving in, like all those old farts say when they have pins and metal in them) have made me even more slow with age,but this year I’m going to at least attempt to be agile if not mobile, so I have that flight option again,because if anyone knows how 2018 went for me, fighting wasn’t very great.