Sharing some learning as I hit the Hitchhiker's Birthday mark...

 I gave this a go about two years ago, trying to fill the forty days leading up to my fortieth birthday with forty quips of insight I had gathered about life. It… it didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. But now I am hitting an even more important milestone in my time in this life; my Hitchhiker’s birthday!

No? Okay, for those of you who either haven’t read it, or share the opinions of Egon Spangler…

Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the story of a guy, his friend, a two headed politician, a girl, and the – well, it’s hard to explain. You see, it all starts when the earth blows up, and… On second thought, you should probably read the book. But one plot point in the story is about a super computer tasked with answering the biggest riddle of them all; the meaning of life. And, after generations of computing, it finally spits out the answer… 42.

The rest of the whole of it is a great read, so I recommend it. But, in my Rogues Gallery – which is, understandably a whole lot of nerd, we’ve given rise to the term “Hitchhiker’s Birthday’; meaning your forty second trip around our star, Sol. So, for the following 365 days you are the answer to life, the Universe, and everything.

That is not a conceit. Well, at least not to me. (If you knew some of my Rogues Gallery like I do…) For me THIS is the big birthday where, as the answer to life, the Universe, and everything you need to get your shit together and really live up to that title. All that stuff you said you’d get around to someday? Yeah, that someday starts at forty two; which for me is in eighteen days from this very entry.
(March 19^th; I’m not counting the day specific. Think of today as T-18 and March 19^th as T-0.)

I think I'm sick of this look.

I like to think of this as not so much a midlife crisis – as no doubt some think it to be – as a midlife reawakening. It’s time to learn from your mistakes and fuck-ups, get it together, and make some kind of mark on life, even if it’s just in clay. And my life full of mistakes and fuck-ups, I’ll tell you what. And having just survived two near misses with death in the past two years? Yeah, I’m all about fixing this mess.

So, in no particular order, here’s a few things I am reflecting on as I prepare for the biggest trip around Sol. This isn’t a self-help inspirational kind of list of stuff, because that’s a crock of crap; something that worked for me, or anyone else, isn’t all bound to work for you. But, take it for what it could be, and run with it.

And today’s is right up in the spirit of all this self-improvement junk…

Accomplishing a goal – weight loss, getting into shape, learning a new skill, doing more of a particular interest or hobby – isn’t so much about doing more of a thing, or less of another (Like eating less and walking more, for example.) as it is simply breaking bad habits.

Eating is a habit we form in response to all kinds of situations, like stress, depression, and boredom. Procrastinating is a habit we form from being uncomfortable, or because we feel over challenged, or simply afraid. At some point these dodges become a habit, and we end up carrying out these habits even when faced with an easily surmountable task. In my case, getting overwhelmed at a moment in time and defeating myself before I even have tried.

I don’t have advice on how to break bad habits. For me it’s just getting on myself about excuses, making a plan... well, more like a guideline... and setting smaller, realistic immediate goals.
As I get better at accomplishing tasks, the goals get bigger. 

Seems to be working, though; I’ve lost some weight, made some art, and put in place some tools to help me succeed. I’m not there, yet, but I’m better than I was just a month ago.
So, take that for what it’s worth.