Last night coming home on the bus, I had a God moment.
I hopped on the bus. It was quite crowded, so I sat up front, near an older gentleman who was carrying on an animated conversation with a young man across the aisle. He was giving an impassioned speech about how our country does not appreciate it's freedom. Quite loudly. The young man was looking at him, not saying a word. But he looked uncomfortable.
I looked around and noticed that the older gentleman actually seemed to be addressing the whole bus, or anyone that was listening.
The rest of the passengers on the bus were quiet. Either looking away from the older, passionate man, at their cell phones, or at him with raised eyebrows.
I noticed he had a military cap on. It said "US Army".
He noticed me looking at him. He smiled and reached out his hand. I took it, intending to shake his hand and thank him for his service.
"Good evening, young lady", he smiled. He had beautiful blue eyes. And a cast on his left arm.
"Good evening", I smiled back. "And thank you for calling me young".
"Well, I call you young because you are! I am 78 years old. And I fought in two FUCKING wars so that all of you could be free"!
(Sorry for the profanity. But did not want to alter this)
He said it loudly, but not angrily.
I looked him in the eyes and said, "You do not look 78 years old! But thank you for your service. Bless you. And for some reason, it seems ok for you to use the 'F' word".
At that, the whole bus broke out in laughter. I guess the spell was broken. This was a vet. A man to show our respect and gratitude to. Not an unstable drunk to fear. (At least I felt no fear).
A young man behind me said, "Yes. Thank you for your service!" Others thanked him as well. And then the young man leaned forward with his hand outreached.
"My grandpa served in the Korean War".
My new friend said he had fought in the Korean War and Vietnam, the war people "liked to forget". He told me he lost a lot of friends in both wars.
I wished I could have sat and talked to him more. But it was time for me to get off the bus at the point. But I put my hand on his shoulder and told him to take care. He patted my hand. I thought I saw a tear in his eye. But he was smiling.
"Bless you", he said.
I am so glad I rode that bus.
It puts my life into prospective to meet someone who risked his life for our freedom. And yes, he did have every right to say the 'F' word after what he lived through.
As I sat knitting when I got home, I thought about him. I wondered what he was like as a young soldier. I wondered about his family.
And I am even more determined to rise about my self imposed limitations. To lose this weight. To regain my energy and stamina. To work harder and smarter. I want to not only be there for my family, my new baby granddaughter when she arrives in September, my students, my church job, but I want to be able to travel and see more of this great world.
And find ways to make a difference. To help others. Having a cause greater than myself will help pull me out of my self pity.
On my walk home last night, after the God moment on the bus, I thought about my schedule. I was actually supposed to have gone to the gym last night after my last student. I was going to do a brief workout and then sit in the hot tub.
But it was already getting late. While I am glad my decision put me on that particular bus, I decided then and there I need to rework my schedule yet again.
I am going to have to get tough on myself. Evening workouts are not practical. Especially since I have a 3/4 mile walk home from the last bus, since the #34 which goes right down the street in front of my church job and my home, stops running about 6:00 p.m. and does not run on weekends.
But it does start running at 6:13 a.m.! And it is a short ride to the MAX, which is a short trip to my gym. MAX is hella fast!
So I am hereby committing myself to waking up at 5:30 a.m., catching the 6:38 bus, workout from 7:00 to 8:00 on Mon, Wed and Fri.
This gives me plenty of time to catch the 8:40 MAX back to the gas station on the corner, to get my $1.09 coffee, and make it to my office job by 9:45!!
On Tue and Thur I plan on going to the track at 6:00 a.m. and then walking up for coffee.
This leaves my evenings free to come home and knit, practice piano and relax, getting to bed a more reasonable hour.
I will have to, if I am getting up at 5:30 a.m.!
Now that the weather is warming up, I have no more excuses!
Here is my Friday Schedule:
6:00 a.m. Wake up. (I am!) Pack gym back, grab coffee mug.
6:30 a.m. Walk to bus stop
6:38 a.m. Bus to Max.
7:00 a.m. Max to gym
7:30 a.m. Black cold brewed iced coffee with cinnamon powder at Starbucks, pray and journal
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Workout/sauna/shower
9:45 a.m. Max to grocery store for veggies and fruit
10:30 a.m. Breakfast
11:30 Bus/ walk home
12:30 Pack backpack - music, fruit, veggies and almonds
1:38 Bus to teach
3:00 to 6:15 Teach piano
6:45 Choir Potluck/Party
9:30 Home. Knit. Pray. Relax
Well, here I am. it is 12:50 p.m. I have accomplished everything on my list so far! Including a fantastic workout! :)
And to sweeten the deal, I stepped on the scale at the gym and I down 4 pounds! 184.5! Either I am melting fat like butter, or my scale is off at home.
I asked the young lady at the front desk about the gym scale. It is one of those ones you find in doctor's offices. She claimed it was accurate. I told her I had lost 4 pounds. She told everyone around her, "Zita lost 4 pounds!"
I was beaming.
Then she asked if I had scheduled my complimentary assessment with a personal trainer. I had not. I usually avoid those. I know they need to make a living, and I cannot afford a package deal.
But I felt so good about my progress, I went ahead and scheduled a session next week. With Omar, the "Master Trainer"!
It is a glorious day to wake up early, lose weight, teach piano, and simply be alive!
I am focusing on "joy" all week. Heck, maybe the rest of my life! Living joy, thinking joy, spreading joy, being joy.
Happy Friday!
Talk to you tomorrow,
Love,
Zita :)
I hopped on the bus. It was quite crowded, so I sat up front, near an older gentleman who was carrying on an animated conversation with a young man across the aisle. He was giving an impassioned speech about how our country does not appreciate it's freedom. Quite loudly. The young man was looking at him, not saying a word. But he looked uncomfortable.
I looked around and noticed that the older gentleman actually seemed to be addressing the whole bus, or anyone that was listening.
The rest of the passengers on the bus were quiet. Either looking away from the older, passionate man, at their cell phones, or at him with raised eyebrows.
I noticed he had a military cap on. It said "US Army".
He noticed me looking at him. He smiled and reached out his hand. I took it, intending to shake his hand and thank him for his service.
"Good evening, young lady", he smiled. He had beautiful blue eyes. And a cast on his left arm.
"Good evening", I smiled back. "And thank you for calling me young".
"Well, I call you young because you are! I am 78 years old. And I fought in two FUCKING wars so that all of you could be free"!
(Sorry for the profanity. But did not want to alter this)
He said it loudly, but not angrily.
I looked him in the eyes and said, "You do not look 78 years old! But thank you for your service. Bless you. And for some reason, it seems ok for you to use the 'F' word".
At that, the whole bus broke out in laughter. I guess the spell was broken. This was a vet. A man to show our respect and gratitude to. Not an unstable drunk to fear. (At least I felt no fear).
A young man behind me said, "Yes. Thank you for your service!" Others thanked him as well. And then the young man leaned forward with his hand outreached.
"My grandpa served in the Korean War".
My new friend said he had fought in the Korean War and Vietnam, the war people "liked to forget". He told me he lost a lot of friends in both wars.
I wished I could have sat and talked to him more. But it was time for me to get off the bus at the point. But I put my hand on his shoulder and told him to take care. He patted my hand. I thought I saw a tear in his eye. But he was smiling.
"Bless you", he said.
I am so glad I rode that bus.
It puts my life into prospective to meet someone who risked his life for our freedom. And yes, he did have every right to say the 'F' word after what he lived through.
As I sat knitting when I got home, I thought about him. I wondered what he was like as a young soldier. I wondered about his family.
And I am even more determined to rise about my self imposed limitations. To lose this weight. To regain my energy and stamina. To work harder and smarter. I want to not only be there for my family, my new baby granddaughter when she arrives in September, my students, my church job, but I want to be able to travel and see more of this great world.
And find ways to make a difference. To help others. Having a cause greater than myself will help pull me out of my self pity.
On my walk home last night, after the God moment on the bus, I thought about my schedule. I was actually supposed to have gone to the gym last night after my last student. I was going to do a brief workout and then sit in the hot tub.
But it was already getting late. While I am glad my decision put me on that particular bus, I decided then and there I need to rework my schedule yet again.
I am going to have to get tough on myself. Evening workouts are not practical. Especially since I have a 3/4 mile walk home from the last bus, since the #34 which goes right down the street in front of my church job and my home, stops running about 6:00 p.m. and does not run on weekends.
But it does start running at 6:13 a.m.! And it is a short ride to the MAX, which is a short trip to my gym. MAX is hella fast!
So I am hereby committing myself to waking up at 5:30 a.m., catching the 6:38 bus, workout from 7:00 to 8:00 on Mon, Wed and Fri.
This gives me plenty of time to catch the 8:40 MAX back to the gas station on the corner, to get my $1.09 coffee, and make it to my office job by 9:45!!
On Tue and Thur I plan on going to the track at 6:00 a.m. and then walking up for coffee.
This leaves my evenings free to come home and knit, practice piano and relax, getting to bed a more reasonable hour.
I will have to, if I am getting up at 5:30 a.m.!
Now that the weather is warming up, I have no more excuses!
Here is my Friday Schedule:
6:00 a.m. Wake up. (I am!) Pack gym back, grab coffee mug.
6:30 a.m. Walk to bus stop
6:38 a.m. Bus to Max.
7:00 a.m. Max to gym
7:30 a.m. Black cold brewed iced coffee with cinnamon powder at Starbucks, pray and journal
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Workout/sauna/shower
9:45 a.m. Max to grocery store for veggies and fruit
10:30 a.m. Breakfast
11:30 Bus/ walk home
12:30 Pack backpack - music, fruit, veggies and almonds
1:38 Bus to teach
3:00 to 6:15 Teach piano
6:45 Choir Potluck/Party
9:30 Home. Knit. Pray. Relax
Well, here I am. it is 12:50 p.m. I have accomplished everything on my list so far! Including a fantastic workout! :)
And to sweeten the deal, I stepped on the scale at the gym and I down 4 pounds! 184.5! Either I am melting fat like butter, or my scale is off at home.
I asked the young lady at the front desk about the gym scale. It is one of those ones you find in doctor's offices. She claimed it was accurate. I told her I had lost 4 pounds. She told everyone around her, "Zita lost 4 pounds!"
I was beaming.
Then she asked if I had scheduled my complimentary assessment with a personal trainer. I had not. I usually avoid those. I know they need to make a living, and I cannot afford a package deal.
But I felt so good about my progress, I went ahead and scheduled a session next week. With Omar, the "Master Trainer"!
It is a glorious day to wake up early, lose weight, teach piano, and simply be alive!
I am focusing on "joy" all week. Heck, maybe the rest of my life! Living joy, thinking joy, spreading joy, being joy.
Happy Friday!
Talk to you tomorrow,
Love,
Zita :)
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| Happy me! (Not sure why my hair looks so short - - perhaps it is stuck in the back of my shirt. But then again, I kind of like it. Perhaps a new haircut is coming on?!) |
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