Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Rowing

So, I took up rowing. And by 'took up' I mean I tried it once, liked it, and intend to do it again.

My company has a rowing team, and they were looking for new recruits, so I decided to give it a try. The first time I went out to the lake, I had a sore shoulder (from moving a lot of my boxes the day before), so I got to be the guy who sits in the back, watches everyone else work really hard, and just sits there and turns the rudder to steer us. It was a pretty sweet gig, but I promised that if my shoulder was better the next week, I'd actually do some of the rowing.

So, my first time actually rowing, yesterday, it was about 60F, with a steady rain out on the lake. Nevertheless, I gave it a try, and loved it! It's more difficult than it looks, and frankly, it's a bit more coordination with my hands than I'm used to. (Hey, I grew up a soccer player!) And to make matters more difficult, the other 4 guys I was with were cracking jokes ('No, I'm not paddling too early! Everyone else is just paddling a bit late!') and I have no hope of staying coordinated while laughing.

Nevertheless, I had a great time, and I have a strong suspicion that if I like rowing when it's a bit chilly and rainy, I'm probably just going to like it all the time. Which is awesome, because I've been looking for an easy-on-the-joints aerobic exercise ever since I had knee surgery 3 or so years ago. I always thought it'd be swimming, but I'm quite terrible at it, and don't really enjoy it. So I'm super excited that I might have found something else. Something with:

-human interaction
-outdoors on the water
-low/no impact
-generally fun

And the best part, there's a bar in the rowing clubhouse with an outdoor balcony, and an awesome view of the lake, where you can sit and enjoy a beer after the workout! Perfect! I have my Tuesday evenings planned for the rest of the spring/summer! =)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Choices...

So, I realized I can choose to be mad at Greece for costing me thousands of dollars, or I can choose to look forward to buying a nice little beach house in Greece in a couple years. I've chosen to be excited about the beach house! =)

And yes, I know enough to know that global economics are not so simple as Greece causing the value of the Euro relative to the dollar to go down. And I also know enough to know that nobody else knows it all either. Especially the professionals.

And I'm okay with all of that. Life's not about what happens to you. (And for the record, I've been incredibly blessed in that way.) But it's really about how you respond to the things that do happen to you. Shit happens. Some shit you can control. Some you can't. What you can always control is how you react to it.

I'm not exactly a religious person, but isn't there a saying/proverb/verse along the lines of 'God grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference'? I kinda like that. I like that it doesn't talk about the power to change more things. Cause no matter how much power you have, you still can't change volcanic ash clouds, or exploding oil rigs. Crap will always be out of your control. Just ask the new Greek government.

But buying a little beach house in Greece isn't out of my control. Or at least thinking about it. =)