Nothing like a fresh, blank, glaring page. Your first is always important. Now I’ve typed quite a bit on the web, but in a conversational way, not an informative way; so this is new. Did I mention daunting? Never-the-less, if I don’t get past it, well, I’ll never arrive!

So I’ll start by talking about the energy it takes to change your ways. It takes a lot. More than I had. So I started there. Small. With a bike and a gorgeous, welcoming, upbeat, redhead that I got to call a friend. If you can’t pick up one of the latter, your mileage may vary.

So we start biking. I’m out of shape. It’s hot. Think frequent stops, stretching, and short distances. Comforting words of encouragement as I lay prostrate over the handlebars murmuring.. “just a few moments and we’ll go on”.

I’m not even sure what it is I’m trying to get energy for at that point. I just knew that things had to change, that I didn’t want to repeat old patterns again. Writing; writing was not even a glimmer in a bead of sweat. Yet, by then, I was writing. So there I was: working hard to gain traction in my life, still ignoring my calling. Me in a nutshell.

It got better. I began to have energy. This energy made it simpler to show up. We learned to avoid the heat and our pauses grew more infrequent. I began to take stock. Was I really going to take up another thankless job full of restraints? What did I want? Was I being reasonable? One question led to another and another and slowly decisions began to be made.

I still bike. It’s been two years and I’m up to twelve miles on a beach cruiser, six of that on an incline. Every time I finish, I feel energized. I have ideas. Ideas on how to attack the day, the coming week, the stories. It is a clarifying time, a post-riding high.

Without energy, you cannot move forward. Stress will tear you down. Changing overnight and other such fantastical goals will eat at your confidence. There is a solid connection between the body and the mind; I ignored it at too high a price for too long. For most of us, writing is an art that takes place in our minds; so easy to forget the body. Don’t! What are you doing for your body that will help free your mind?