So I went to the doctor's office a couple of weeks ago and he informed me that my cholesterol was too high, and I needed to get my ass in gear. I have a follow up appointment in mid-February, and in the interim he gave me a relatively low dosage of cholestrol pills to take, and he told me that I have to start working out consistently the way I used to do in my mid 30s. He also said that it wasn't about vanity, fitting my clothes better or preparing to strut on the beach, but this was about extending my life. His tone was quiet serious, and I got the message loud and clear. As of the day after Thanksgiving I'm running, I'm swimming, I cut out most dairy (need soy milk for my Starbucks), and I've cut back on the alcohol (although in fairness, I mostly drink wine and per my doctor, that isn't causing any cholesterol elevation). As my wife said to me yesterday morning, working out now has to be like brushing teeth, showering, eating, etc. It isn't an option, it is an absolute necessity.

This workout urgency sounded very familiar to me, considering I have been equally negligent with my writing, as I have both casually and not-so-subtly mentioned on this here blog several times. Yes my plate is full of family, kids and other shit, but surely I can fit writing into that same tight spot (pause) where I am currently fitting my workouts. As I told the young Hampton University student I am now mentoring, if you want and aspire to be a writer, you have to do it each and every day, until you achieve a certain level of mastery. And even then, when you think you've mastered it, you'll read something like this, and it'll humble you and make you realize you ain't there.

***Sidebar**If you didn't click on that link I mentioned in the previous paragraph, you absolutely should. Even if you aren't a basketball fan, you can still appreciate how Jackie MacMullan tells a story, and weaves in and out of paragraphs with an effortless eloquence. Yes she's been doing this for 33 years, and yes she has way more access and cache' than I do, but I was still in absolute awe of her article, and I realize I have miles to go before I catch her. But I will catch her my friends, believe that**sidebar off**

The purpose of this particular entry is for me to pump myself up to blog every damn day from now until infinity. It can be short, it can be long (pause again), it can be heartfelt, it can be superfluous, but something has to be written between this four laptop walls. I need to start thinking and sinking into the paper like I was ink, I need to be trapped in between the lines, and when I finish the line, I cannot escape, I have to keep writing. That is my pledge to myself and tangentially to you people too.