2011 and the rest of my life.

My goal for 2011 is to determine how I want to live, where I want to go, and what I am going to do to get there.

Confusion

So, five months ago I received an Amazon Kindle for father's day.  I thought I would jump right into it, but I still have the urge to go to the library and take our more books.  I'm not sure why or even if this is about the Kindle itself.  Is it the feel of the book in my hands?  Is it the ability to get the book for free, and just take it back if I don't like it?  The selection is bigger than the free books on Kindle.  Or is the bigger issue that I'm confused about my life in general with my upcoming retirement and my excessive worrying about the future that I cannot control?  I guess when I start writing the answers instead of the questions, I'll know.

I'm not interested in this years World Series

I haven't been interested in the 2010 World Series and I've been wondering why.  After tossing it around in my head there are two reasons.
1. I was born and raised in Philadelphia and am still a Phillies fan.  The Giants beat the Phillies in the NLCS.
2. It's difficult to get attached to a team, because the players change every year.  The Giants picked up Cody Ross, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell among others at the beginning of the season or during the season.  Not that the Phillies are innocent of this, but Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth have been with the team for several years.  The roles are reversed for the pitching staffs.  The Giants pitchers are home grown while the Phillies have acquired Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt this season.

Reading

I love to read.  Fiction, Self-Help, Biography, Religious.  It's an eclectic reading list.  When I read the self-help books they all seem to say the same thing and I find myself comparing them to the 7 habits of highly effective people, and the 4 Agreements.  I'm thinking maybe I should stop reading those books and just do what they say.

Who are you?
Where are you going?
Why are you going there?

Me and My Kindle

I received a Kindle for Father's Day.  At first I used it sparingly, having difficulty giving up the printed paper page.  I took it to appointments when a wait was likely involved.   At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  I'm on vacation this week, and I decided that this would be the test.  I did bring a few books, but I relied on my Kindle and didn't read a real book for the first four days.  I've decided that the issues are the same as books..sometimes the book just isn't worth reading.  Will I switch to the Kindle 100%?  I'm not sure.  It's hard to beat the low prices at the local library's book sale or the non-existent cost to borrow books from the library.  We'll see what happens when I receive Amazon.com gift cards for Christmas.

thoughts on living

On September 10, we learned that the 27 year old daughter of friends had passed away last Sunday from cancer.  We only met her a few times when she was younger and they lived in the area, but it was still devastating news.
I had various thoughts over the course of the day.  One was, fuck it, let's go to Baskin-Robbins for dinner.  After all if someone that young and healthy can get cancer, I certainly can also.  Another thought was to get on the treadmill and run until my legs gave out and not play it safe.  By the time the morning came around I had backed off of that one.  I did run 15 of the 35 minutes on the treadmill to cover 2.57 miles.  It may not seem like much but it was to me.  Another thought was maybe I should write a blog and let out my thoughts.  I wasn't sure about that one but here we are.
This morning my thoughts were about taking my time in the present moment.  Not worrying if I had enough time to lift weights at the gym.  Not concerned about the wait at Starbucks.