Resolving early

This was me a couple of days ago, and I'm hoping that by the time this post posts, it's nothing but a distant memory. I woke up feeling fine last Friday, then had a somewhat achy back by the end of the day, which got worse on Saturday and by Sunday I could hardly walk. A trip to the chiropractor on Monday resulted in the diagnosis of one of the crookedest spines he had seen in some time. I am literally standing as straight as I can in this picture, but a massive lower-back muscle spasm had me teetering dangerously over to the right.

His diagnosis included the hypothesis that it was probably stress-related, and at first I protested that I didn't think that could be it, but then I thought about it some more. We did have to convene the Emergency Operating Centre at work on Friday for an unforseen incident. Mallory did spend the night vomiting. We did have family obligations the next day which followed on the obligations we had the weekend before that and the weekend before that and... The constant to-do lists and running around that happen at this time of year. And as usual, I am sure I had probably not been getting enough sleep, eating well enough, exercising as much as I should, and I know my pool time (the one thing that always makes my back feel good) has been dwindling as of late.

And then I thought about how this has probably been the poorest-ever year for me from a health perspective, what with the injuries I had over the summer (also back related; not really surprising, hmmm?) that made my race season 1 for 3, the pneumonia I had in September, and the never-ending sickness that pervaded our household through much of October and November. Clearly, something is not working.

So this is my vow - to make 2012 the Year Of Health. To sleep more, eat better, move as much as I can, and let as much stress as possible roll off my back. To commit to doing less, but rather than seeing it as wasted opportunity, I'm going to make it as purposeful as possible. The past six months have been tough ones and I'd rather not repeat them.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. This is me officially unplugging for a bit, for the sake of my body + soul.