A Year in the Life.....

This blog post offers no teachings, it is just me over the past 12 months.

Queue music, for right now it's 'A Day in the Life' by The Beatles......

"I read the news today oh boy, about a lucky man who made the grade...."


So the past year, in my mind at least, I have made the grade.... I saw in the New Year with a large cigar and an even larger glass of Southern Comfort (which was following a considerable amount of other beeer and liquor), sat in a good friends back yard. I gradually moved from vertical to horizontal and well, there was not so much motion for a good while there, as I star gazed, and then closed my eyes on the world.

Coaches and Captains; the U25 World Championships, CA

That motionlessness didn't last...this year saw me travel to USA, Canada, Israel, and Germany. It saw me help coach the GB Women's Wheelchair Basketball team to a Gold medal at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, UK, and a Bronze medal in the European Championships in Israel. We also took a young team to the Under 25's World Championships in Canada, where we got another Bronze medal.

As well as some success in coaching, I watched my twin sister get married this July, and then announce her pregnancy over the Christmas period! I'm going to be an Uncle!! Awesome!!

I also (finally) got published this year, with a flurry of articles on resistance training, as well as further articles that are currently in review. This was a great process for me, as one of the publications was essentially something I'd be working on for a while, and lead to some other work for the Mike Mentzer website, and contact with some world leaders in exercise and physiology. I also settled in a steady position as a Senior Lecturer in Sports Conditioning and Fitness, at Southampton Solent University, which might help see me finally grow roots.

On top of all of this I sold my motorbike (sad face), and bought a stand-up paddleboard (very smiley face). But more than all of these incredible experiences; I learned SOOOO much. I moved to a (kind of) palaeolithic diet (which kinda means low-carb), learning from ancestral nutrition and improved my body composition and health substantially (although I felt like there wasn't that much to improve on). I read in the region of 46 books, (see previous blog for a list) (I'm currently working on "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman". An autobiographical book of stories by the great physicist Richard Feynman.

Moel Famau, North Wales, UK

And then there's the little things....on boxing day I walked up Moel Famau with my eldest sister. I live a couple hundred miles from my family so don't get to spend so much time with them these days. This was a really nice day for me and my big sister to catch up and earn some good food afterwards.

Then there was walking through Bournemouth one evening, when a girl sat in a doorway with her hand out complimented me on my hat. I stopped at the chip shop up the street and took her back a cup of tea and some chips. As I handed them to her I felt the need to apologise. Perhaps for not doing more, or for being more fortunate. I'm not sure.

But you know, all in all, for me; it's been a pretty amazing year, whether it be humbling experiences or moments of excitement. For another thing, I kept the blog going all year, getting near 1,500 hits in one month, and hitting over 1,000 hits for a single blog post. Whoever is reading this nonsense; thank you.

This has been a year of ups and downs, as is every day, and as will (no doubt) be every year. But I think that the success of the year lies not just in the ups but in learning from the downs. Something I hope I do more and more as I evolve.

Ultimately all is well in my world. And I hope all is well in your world.

In a final cliché let me leave you with this:

"The sun will rise and fall tomorrow.

Everything in between is up to you."

I normally sign this off 'Be Well'. But don't just be well, be great.

JF