Happy New Year 2010! I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and festive evening full of fun and laughter, among good friends and family.

The Mrs. and I were pretty low-key last night. It was just the two of us with no real plans for the evening. We enjoyed some TV together (a bit of Dexter season 3 on DVD) and took it easy. The fabulous Mrs. H. wasn’t feeling so fabulous (due to a visit from her monthly friend) and fell asleep well before midnight. I woke her with a gentle kiss and wished her a happy new year just before calling it a night and joining her.

Following the long standing tradition, many people will make new year’s resolutions with good intent, only to give up after a short period of trying. There are some very important resolutions I made this year. I pray that I have the strength to follow through with them.

The New Year’s cliche
One of the more popular new year’s resolutions is to go on a diet, loose weight, exercise more, etc. – call it the standard “get-fit-and-trim resolution”. It often doesn’t last as people quickly discover how time consuming and unpleasant getting in shape really is, not to mention the level of self-discipline required to maintain a healthy diet AND stick with the exercise regimen.

Staying fit and trim is a life-long commitment and there’s nothing fun or enjoyable about the process itself. The outcome is, of course, looking more attractive, feeling better and living healthier. I’ve always been able to stick with it, whereas so many others fail after what seems like only a halfhearted attempt. The main excuse is always the same: “I don’t have enough time.” Whether it be working long hours, raising kids, spending too much time watching TV, social networking and grazing on junk food while sitting on one’s ass, it always comes down to “lack of time”.

Never enough time
Even though I don’t buy that excuse from many people who toss it out there ever so quickly, I do fully understand the difficulties of living within tough-to-manage time constraints. That’s the story of my life – always so much to do, and never enough time. Even so, I always take the time to maintain physical fitness, often at the cost of letting other things slide.

Personal failures
Exercising daily is not something I enjoy by any means, but I keep at it. So many others do not, offering excuses to justify their failures. Fact is, there are many areas in which I fail miserably while others seem to have little problem, and that is where I find myself offering excuses. Of course, my excuses aren’t just excuses. They’re very real obstacles… aren’t they? That’s certainly how it feels. Perhaps this is how it feels to those who attempt dieting and getting in shape only to throw in the towel so quickly. A lot of people are, simply put: just plain lazy. I also think there are many who try very hard, only to run into what seems like serious and unbeatable obstacles in their lives.

A growing problem in my life
It is a little known fact that I am a foul-mouthed, quick-tempered hot-head in person. More accurately, my man-side, Gabe, is. As Gabrielle, I’m somehow more balanced and not as moody. Most of my time is spent in guy-mode however, and I have some serious anger management issues that have built up considerably in recent months. My out-of-control temper is mostly the result of misplaced anger. The real problem is stress caused by numerous factors in my life, and, dare I say – my lack of time and resources to deal with them.

My resolutions

• Manage my limited time more effectively. There’s never enough time to do it all, but with better time management and self-discipline, it will be possible to accomplish more in the time I do have and reduce the number of stressors that fuel my anger.
• Be mindful of angry feelings and hold my tongue before a stream of senseless profanities come out of my mouth at high decibels. It feels good to let it all out like that, but it has been causing serious trouble in my marriage and professional life and needs to stop.
• Focus and fully apply myself to the task at hand, rather than dwell on the problems I am powerless to change (at that particular moment). Deal with one task/problem at a time. Take things one day at a time.

What are your resolutions, if any?
Cliche or not, what are your new year’s resolutions? Have you chosen to make some changes and personal improvements? Have you abandon the whole “new year’s resolution” thing like many others? Please take a few minutes to share what you’ve got going on… and wish me luck on taming my own demons.

If you don’t have any resolutions to share, I’d still like to hear how you spent your new year’s eve, if you don’t mind sharing.

This is entry number 2 in my vlog (video blog) series. It’s been just over a month since my last vlog, so I thought it was about time.

In this installment, I talk about a personal struggle that’s been causing trouble in my life. A recent session with my therapist shed some light on a destructive obsessive cycle that’s been spiraling out of control for a few months now.

In vlog episode 2, I discuss:

• My recent troubles with overeating
• Obsessive over exercising to compensate for overeating
• Stress
• Lack of personal time
• Mario Kart Wii
• My number one video admirer (?)

Vlog #2, take two…
Once again, this was recorded using my phone’s low-end built-in video capabilities, so my apologies for the picture quality. I spent some time in front of a real video camera talking about things, but rambled on way too long and didn’t feel up to the time consuming task of chopping it all down to size. Somehow, talking to my phone cam in the bathroom keeps me more focused than when talking in front of a tripod-mounted camera in my makeshift studio.

A brief segment from the original recording session remains intact in the video – a little Mario Kart sight gag. It should bring a smile :)

Discussing personal struggles
We all have our problems in life to deal with. Even though I was caught in a worsening destructive obsessive cycle for months, it wasn’t until discussing things with my therapist that I full realized how bad things were. This may sound odd, but I was embarrassed to discuss this issue, and the many others I spewed out during my last session. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. The embarrassment often helps me break free of the negative patterns I sometimes get trapped in.

There is also embarrassment in sharing my shortcomings in life publicly like this. So why do it? Sometimes humility is good. It can be a powerful motivator to change bad habits and replace them with new, healthy habits.

What works for you?
As pointed out, I’ll shame myself (sometimes publicly) into making positive changes in my life. It works for me. How do you motivate yourself to make changes when they become necessary? If you have any tips or tricks in that department, please share what works for you.

Just a reminder
I have no control over the suggested videos offered after mine finishes. I do NOT endorse any of them.

Related content: My YouTube Channel

Not long ago I did a write up about a little spider that decided to take a ride on my knee while I was exercising. After completing my daily trek on the treadmill yesterday, I noticed the little fella had returned. It was sitting on my exercise mat almost exactly where it had dropped down on me before. Not wanting it to get accidentally stepped on, I carefully blew it aside to the corner.

This morning, I found the spider right back on my exercise mat in the same spot. Upon closer examination, I noticed that it was rather dead. Not squashed or anything, just dead.

Maybe it knew the end was near and just wanted to die in its favorite spot on my exercise mat – right where it first fell in love with my right knee. After all, arachnids kneed to find a peaceful place to pass on into the great spider web in the sky. Couldn’t resist the pun. :)

No more climbing up the water spout for this itsy-bitsy spider. Little Miss Muffet can sit on her tuffet without being frightened away. No more unexpected landings on my pretty little knee.

I suppose a proper eulogy would be in order:

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this little spider with its final resting place in the Hermosa back yard makeshift cemetery. It had great taste in crossdressers, and enjoyed watching me exercise every day. Oh the memories. Now we lay to rest my little eight-legged admirer. Goodbye little guy. Rest in peace, and may the Force be with you.

Ok, worst.. eulogy.. ever.

I really don’t mind spiders. Of all the little exoskeleton-clad freeloaders lurking in my home, spiders are the least likely to be squished by my powerful bug-mashing thumb. Although I’d rather have a house clear of insects and other little creatures, at least spiders help out by trapping and feasting on some of them.

This particular spider seemed rather curious about me and my exercise routine. So much so, that it decided to drop right down on my right knee while doing my leg-lifts. Come on, little spider – why must you land on my knee while it is moving about like that? Wouldn’t you prefer a more stable landing pad? Could you not have dropped down one foot further to my right? Continue reading to see the cool animation of where the spider landed on me. :)

As much as I don’t mind spiders (and often enjoy looking at them up close when I find one), I do prefer they not land on and scurry around my body while I’m exercising. I’m not a spider jungle gym or some kind of giant amusement park ride for 8-leged fly traps. When I’m exercising, leave me a lone, please. I know how hard it must be for a little spider to resist the temptation of checking out my right leg up close like that. I mean, I do have rather nice legs. They look this good because of my strict daily exercise regimen.

I didn’t want to squish my little admirer, so I just brushed it off and then blew it over to the side several feet. Consider that another free ride from Gabrielle, the giant human playground turned arachnid wind tunnel. I didn’t see where the little crawler ended up, but somehow I think it stuck around to watch the rest of the show. There were more leg-lifts, crunches, push-ups, and curls to complete before taking a shower and heading off to work. I’m sure it all must have been very fascinating to my four-eyed audience of 1. Next time, please just look and don’t touch though. I might have to introduce you to Mrs. Thumb if you try that again.