This post is different from any of my others because it's not really about adventures, it's about the ability to take care of yourself AND enjoy yourself.  I was determined when I got to Romania, I was going to focus on me and my well-being - this is the whole reason I chose to be apart from my family for 18 months.  For YEARS I ignored my health (physical and mental) and yes, I admit it, I was a workaholic.  No one made this more evident over twenty years ago than my mentor and friend Brig Gen Richard A. Coleman.

BGen Richard A. Coleman and me, 13 March 2019

     When we first arrived at Lackland AFB in May 1997, there was more work than you can imagine standing up a new organization.  I wanted to buy three color laser printers ($20K each) and asked our Resource Advisor - CMSgt JJ Adkison.  He said he could allow two but if I wanted all three I had to ask BGen Coleman.  I marched up to his office and asked him if I could....I didn't get a chance to finish.  In the middle of the front office foyer with all it's glass doors, he told me to take off my shirt as he removed his. He then told me if I wanted anything, I would have to match him one-for-one doing push-ups.  Now, this was 1998 and I was young stud (39) and he was 59 - no problem.  By this time, the entire building populace had their faces plastered against the glass to watch me make the General. look bad!  Lt Col Steve Robinette was the Executive Officer and he was having none of this, just making believe this wasn't happening.  Well, we got down on the floor and started our gladiator's competition.  After what seemed like an hour, I collapsed on the floor while the General kept going.  I had done SIX (yes, 6) push-ups before I lay in a pool of sweat.  The General stopped after 25 or 30 or more, I lost track.

     After we were finished, I asked him if I had done what I came there to accomplish - well, you know the answer, I only got two printers.  He called me into his office and told me he didn't do this to embarrass me but instead to prove a point.  He said he came to work every day, and I was there.  He went to lunch every day, and I was there.  He went home at the end of his day (which was still longer than most peoples), and I was there.  He said he knew I was working 60-80 hours a week and I wasn't taking care of myself.  He is a true leader and there have been no others of his caliber.  We were blessed to have this true American hero as our leader for so many years.

     The moral of the story though is not that I changed my ways, because I didn't.  I was a workaholic and I couldn't change.  Flash forward 20 years and I have changed now.  The day after I arrived here, I went to the gym and promised myself I would go every day, it doesn't get any easier - it's on the floor beneath my room at the bottom of the stairs!!!

     So now I go to the dining hall first thing in the morning for a healthy breakfast and head off to work at 07:30 every morning (almost midnight for most of you back home).  At 11:30 I take a 30 minute break (that's the normal lunch for the Navy civilians I guess) and go for a walk and get a small lunch.  By 5:00 I am out the door and head to the dining hall for a hearty dinner.  I rest for a while, and then head to the gym.  I would recommend to everyone to use the app MyFitnessPal.  I've used it for years to measure my calorie intake and exercise.  I've set a goal of getting to 175 pounds (I was 211 when I got here) so I have reduced my daily caloric intake by 500 to 1750 calories a day.  It's not that hard.  Then I try to burn another 400-600 a day through exercise.

     I've been working my way up every day, starting at 2 miles, to a little more each session.  So I run for 45 minutes and see how far I can go - I'm averaging 2.65 miles a day now (sometimes I get to 3.5 miles on a good day - a 5k run)!  I've also recently added strength conditioning to my regimen with ab crunches and leg squats.

     The reason I tell you this tale is to let you know if I can change, so can you.  I'm not bragging but instead I'm telling you that even at 60 years of age, I can learn a valuable lesson.   I am enjoying my time here in Eastern Europe and to do so, I must be healthy.  This coming weekend I've signed up for an MWR tour to Cernei and Baile Herculane for two days of hiking in the mountains adjacent to the Danube and sightseeing villages where Hercules is alleged to have stopped to enjoy the thermal baths.  I couldn't do any of this if I wasn't healthy and didn't reprioritize the things that matter in life.  I work 100% at my job every day but at the end of the day, I'm going to put my top priorities first; my health, my family, and my friends.  Without any of these, I would be less of the person I am today.

     So, take care of yourself, take care of your family, take care of your friends (the real ones - not those phonies), and enjoy life.  Work will always be there and the people you thought were loyal to you because you were loyal to them - ARE NOT.  There are no more Brig Gen Coleman's or Col Steve Robinettes' or Dave Beecroft's out there (my three mentors in life).  They were a dying breed of leader and they've all moved on now to better things.  You'll be replaced before your departure is listed on Facebook, forgotten before your Linked In page is updated with your new job, and blamed for everything that was ever wrong at your old office by people who never even knew you.