#bloviations

At some point during high school, I decided that sitting in front of the computer and lamenting about how boring my life was just didn't cut it as a standard pastime.

Since then, I've had a fire in me that constantly burns for knowledge and progress. It feeds off of productive activity (or seemingly productive activity, anyway). That flame is kept in check by my inability to see things through, which is further augmented by the guilt I feel for all those unfinished endeavors.

But no more! My time on this Earth is limited. Why gaze absent-mindedly at the wall of life as I fall past it when I can reach out my hands, cleave some of the clay from the cliff face, and leave a few marks for future fallers to witness? If I fall short and fail, who will care? But if I make something of the spare time I sparingly spend, something to be proud of - proof that I was here, that I lived - well, isn't that all the better?

Sure, all of that high-mindedness sounds nice, but history shows that I haven't really kept to it, at least not to the end. I'm hoping that, by keeping a blog chronicling my various efforts to avoid a sedentary lifestyle will somehow motivate me. If others bear witness to my efforts, they might hold me accountable and give me a reason to keep going.

So what sorts of "efforts" am I talking about? I want to improve myself physically and mentally. Exercise is an obvious part of it. Learning skills is another (an instrument, a language, a craft trade, that sort of thing). I hope to keep track of my progress and milestones. That might lead to monotonous, self-aggrandizing posts, but hey, it's my blog. At the same time, I'll likely sprinkle in some useful information I find on my journey through the Internets that might aid my (and others') quest for self-improvement. Time will tell.