Where's The Handshake?

Hi all.

Where I come from, a handshake is important.  It tells the other person who you are and how you are. We are tought a good firm handshake is important in letting yourself be known.  Also, a handshake can be the "fine print" in a verbal contract or committment.  A handshake is significant, because it involves your hands.  Your hands is how a lot of people make a living, where I'm from. Whether it's construction, logging, building fences, chores, ranching or turning wrenches as a mechanic, your hands earn your bread and butter.  Yeah, but they also form an agreement.

If you go back on your word, then your name can be run in the mud.  If you break your handshake's significance for any reason, your character will show.  It's not about the actual broken promise or not keeping your word, as much as it is as, yeah, we had an agreement and it's not been followed perfectly.  But what are you going to do from here.  Just quit? No.  You get back up and you get the job done. You don't sit and dwell.

I remember when one of my brothers was helping our uncle one summer.  It wasn't a "job" as much as it was for keeping my brother busy, but also a way to help our uncle with some extra money by selling firewood. My uncle would come home and the 2 of them would drive off in a fully loaded truck of firewood, either split or not split.  My uncle would receive calls from random people who had requests.  Then, my brother had a number of loads he was to prepare. This lasted the whole summer. I can think of only 2 days of the entire summer where my brother did not have a load prepared already, by the time our uncle got done.  But he didn't sit there and wait for my uncle to get home and then wait for my uncle to do the load himself. Instead, whether he'd woke late or whatever, the distraction was, he went out and did what he said he was going to do, although it was not perfect.  The end result was still acheived through hard work.

Losing inches and gaining knowledge is getting to be a lot tougher than I ever expected.  This does not discourage me as much as it makes me realize something.  This time around, I'm more serious.  The fact that it bothers me when I don't work out, or when I make a bad choice with food... It makes more sense now.  Before, it would not bother me.  Now, I'm getting to the point where I can see all of these things that have enabled me to get to the point or weight and being so ridiculously unfit. 

I've decided that I want to go back and see if there are any things or pieces that I've missed in the reading for the conditioning the mind. I want to get prepared b/c I really want to give it a go.  I feel like I've just been playing around with this stuff for going on 3 months now.  I want to see it work, more.  We saw 22+ inches leave.  Now I want more.  I want more knowledge.

I want to fly over to Loveland Colorado and go into the Lose 12 Inches gym and smack Coach right in the mouth to where his jaw drops and he sees what I've done.  Then I want him to bust my ass, to which I'll get up from the floor, hurting, sore, sweating and say, "have you had enough, Coach?"  Bring it on.

Just an update: our kitchen is being torn out and remodeled.  Found out there was a busted/cracked drainage pipe between our floor and the ceiling of the downstairs basement, in the duplex we rent. FUN! So the cabinets/cupboards, fridge, all have been cleaned out.  We get to use the kitchen downstairs and live upstairs.  Thinking about calling our renter's insurance place to see what the details are on how an extended stay place might work out in this situation.  But I tell you, it only ads to the challenge! We'll wake up Christmas morning and look back and say, "Look where we were and what we went through.  Look where we are."

Where is my handshake to myself?  Make it right.
A special shout out to Summer! She was extremely helpful over a chat session online the other day.  Helped me find the good in where I am at. This whole time, I've been wanting to bury my head because it has not been perfect.  Just so everyone knows, behind every great man, there is a great woman (typically). 

Coach has Summer. Chris Powell has Heidi.  (I wonder if their reading this????) My buddy is marrying a great gal this summer.  A couple of my other buddies have stressful jobs as well, and they are also married to wonderful women who are supportive.

Thank you for being my great woman Katie!  Thank you for your handshake.  I know you love me more than Disney! ;)