How I’m Getting Fine at 29

I mentioned this concept in my last personal post, but I never really detailed how exactly I was going to get fine at 29. Yes, these are pretty much new years’ resolutions (and what better timing!) but I’m not going to New York Sports Club for a week, nor will I start some crazy diet that will go out the window two weeks after that. This is about long term goals, that will last past 29.

 

1. I will get fit to the point where I can run up a mountain in the snow

 

This is not going to happen in a year. I will be the first to admit as I’m not Sly Stallone and had the other three Rocky movies/First Blood/Rhinestone under my belt before shooting Rocky IV. Nor am I 5’10” (was I really the only one who thought Sly was about 5’4″ all these years?) But I do want to be that strong without the reliance of fancy machines or steroids, just rely on my body. My problem is that I get mad at myself for not being able to beat Ivan Drago right away. I just have to remember my experience in tae kwon do.  I took a class in college, and I loved it. Although I couldn’t run without getting winded after about a lap and a half during warm ups and most Asian men don’t have hips and a butt the way I do and had to wear track pants instead the proper uniform pants, I kept at it. I fought hard, and it paid off–I surprised the instructor who thought I was going to quit after the first week by passing my promotion test at the end of the semester on the first go. And speaking of fighting spirit…

 

2.  I will retain my enthusiasm and energy

“Headlong” is the last music video of Queen with Freddie Mercury shot in color. A little less than a year after this video was shot, Mercury succumbed to AIDS. Although he doesn’t have the same level of energy that he did at Live Aid a few years earlier or especially during Queen’s heyday in the 70s, he’s still fierce. Listen to the vocal. I felt like an immense asshole after watching this the other night. Of course your energy is going to change after major events–but it shouldn’t come to a complete stop. I’m also not physically ill the way Mercury was. I have no excuse. I’m angry that I went numb over the summer.

 

3. I will remember that I want a Marshall, and not settle for a Sheldon.

“What?!” you’re probably thinking. Let me explain. When I was in my last year of college, I started watching How I Met Your Mother. I was instantly drawn to Marshall Eriksen. “That’s the kind of guy I want to end up with.” I told myself. Marshall to me is warm, he’s sweet, he’s caring, he’s doting without being obsessive, he’s energetic, he’s optimistic, he’s silly, yet at the same time, he’s smart, he has a great job, I could go on.

However, when I started dating as an adult, I was not finding Marshalls. I was finding perverts and (perhaps slightly worse,) Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory types. This is not to bash geeks–wouldn’t you consider Marshall to be slightly geeky given his interest in finding Bigfoot and the Lochness Monster?–but these guys had Sheldon’s cold, awkward, rude, condescending, stubborn behaviors down. Yet, part of me was always like, “oh, I shouldn’t be mean, I should give this poor guy a chance,” go out on a second date with them, and be more miserable than the first time out. No more. I’m done feeling bad that I want a Marshall and not a Sheldon. I’m not going to settle because I feel that “what if this is my last chance?!” Fuck that.

 

And while I know I have other things to improve on to get fine at 29, these three are the biggest, and again, this isn’t just for being 29, these are more long term goals: strength, enthusiasm and not settling. To others about to turn 29, how are you getting fine?