It’s a new year, a new decade in fact.  It’s a time of renewed resolution, a time to stop for a beat or two and reconsider the present and future – a time for goals and motives.

If ya’ haven’t done it, do it.  It’s really good for ya’.  Don’t dismiss the moment.  Don’t blow it off as a fad.  It’s truly valuable.  It’s simply an opportunity to better your life.  If you can’t think of anything to improve, you’re very fortunate, but alas, probably a bit unreasonable.  There’s always an area in each of our lives that could use a little improvement.

For me, it’s all about the mouth – what comes in and what goes out.

First, what comes in: I’ve recently lost very close to 40 pounds.  I’m a new man because of it. Actually you might even say that by becoming less of a body, I’ve become more of a man (as long as we’re into a little word play here).  If losing a little weight happens to be one of your goals in life, I recommend giving it a shot.  Start now.  It’s as good a time as any and in fact, better than most.  It’s a new beginning.

I did it by dieting.  And it’s the best thing I’ve done for myself in many years.  I’m much happier, much healthier, much more energized and feeling much younger.  Who wouldn’t trade a few pounds for that?!

I say I did it by dieting, but really it was simply a matter of changing my mind.  Once I changed my mind, the dieting was actually easy.  I lost the weight in 6 months and it was not at all a difficult 6 months, but rather a half year of great progress.

How did I do it?  I looked into the mirror and saw that more was coming in than was going out.  It was simply a logical rebalancing of mind.  Once that was accomplished, the body followed.

I now eat far less, I eat better foods, my stomach has shrunk (both mentally and physically) and my appetite (both mental and physical) has also shrunk.  I realized that food, for me, had lost its true meaning in my life.  It had become more of a reward for my difficult days, a false panacea for whatever I was missing in the day or a substitute placebo for my disappointments and longings.

I rebalanced my thought.  I finally figured out that food isn’t really any of those things above.  If we think it is, then we’re just kidding ourselves and leading false lives.

So I rebalanced the concept of food back to being fuel.  It’s still an enjoyable fuel, but now I know I just need less of it to run the machine.

Once I attained the balance between what goes in and what comes out, my body (which is only a reflection of my mind) simply followed suit.  I’m back close to my college weight where exercise kept the balance tuned.  I don’t need to get to my college weight because at my age I’m just no longer doing a lot of pole vaulting and don’t really need to be 165 again.  So I’ll be a comfortable human at a bout 175.

It won’t be hard to stay here.  The rewards are so great that the temptation just does not exist anymore.  I’m simply a better-balanced human – happier, thinner, and correctly fueled.  I even got through the holidays evenly, enjoying an occasional pig-out on Haagen Daz, chocolate sauce and chocolate whipped crème, but keeping the mental balance.

I’m OK.  It’s gonna be a great decade as the new me.  Less of a body – more of a man.

Part 2 of this missive is yet to come.  It’s all about what comes out of the mouth.  As long as I’m watching what goes into my mouth, I decided that I’d might as well keep an eye on what comes out of my mouth as well.  This, I’ve recognized is the next absolute necessity of my life.

I’ll try to cover this tomorrow.  Tune in for another rebalancing that is sore in need and yet to come.

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link,
please visit Watchfire Music.