:: Free 2 Be :: the Odyssey ::

When I was younger, it was a matter of vanity. As I mature, it is a matter of respect.
(paraphrased from Staging Your Come back, by Christopher Hopkins) 
I’ve been thinking much about Aspiring and Inspiring, about the idea that we not only need a dream but desire, and that we are responsible for motivating ourselves.
The day I learned [...]

Today I’m thinking about having a dream and *wanting it.* Not having a dream is like not having a destination when you leave the house. That can be fun sometimes, but not when you want to get somewhere. And I’m thinking I need a specific dream, just like it helps to have a specific destination.
So, I [...]

The last time I lost weight was four years ago, 50 pounds over 2 years.
In the last two years, 33 pounds crept back on.
In the last month, I’ve lost a couple pounds and several waistline inches just from a little eating better and concentrating on MUFAs (good *mono* fats).
My top weight measurements were something around [...]

This odyssey doesn’t have a clear beginning and won’t ever end (until I leave this world) so we’ll be racking up progress in blog days here – days since I started blogging the odyssey.
Progress is defined as anything I did or even thought about that would tend to result in odyssey-related movement. Motivation. Forward movement [...]

I learned to backpack the summer I turned 49, but had learned to handle mountains the year before.
Overweight and out-of-shape, I could see I’d never make it up the mountain with my new friends so I sent them on ahead.
As the mountain got steeper I slowed my pace. Still running out of breath, I shortened [...]