The Valentines Day Blog

Another Valentine Day is here. And if you have followed my blogs or have seen me dance, you are aware of the fact that February 14th is much like February 15th or 13th to me, except I get a heart shaped pancake for breakfast from my mom. I have realized that this week is the two year anniversary of my throwing down some words and posting them for the world to not read. I let you know know last year that my blog has been there for me through the thick and the thin, so I couldn't think of a better way to honor her but to write another blog on this night. I thought about putting together a list of ways to impress that special someone in your life on this Valentines, but I was afraid you would start asking questions and realize i had no idea what I was talking about. I then thought I would maybe explain to you the history of this date, and the meaning behind this day or love. But again, I quickly gave up on that because I had no idea, and my made up explanation would most likely include ponies with angel wings and a long drawn out poem, and I knew I would be laughed at even more then normal. Next I figured if I didn't have anything positive to give you I would just share the heart breaking story of my first love. It should only take two hours of your time. But it would take 4 hours to write, three Kleenex boxes and at least three more months of counseling to finish that story. So, I have decided to go back to my roots and just hit the return key start a new paragraph and just start typing the first thing that comes to the frontal lobe of my thought jammed mega-head.
Do any of you like working out as much as Mr Olympia and Mrs Universe? Do any of you like to interact with the opposite sex as much as Casanova or Debbie? I know at first look these two questions may seem completely unrelated. But to me the two seem to relate in a practical way that is easy to follow.(given it is even easier to follow if you are me) Let me explain why I think working out and dating are quite similar, at least to my frontal lobe they are. First off, I really really like the idea, the concept, the thought and the benefit of working out. It is good for your health and can make you feel better about yourself. I also really really like the idea, the concept, the thought and the benefits of dating. It is good for your health and can make you feel better about yourself. Pretty simple. The thought of dating and working out are both outstanding. I personally am a master at thinking about both. In fact if all it took was thinking about both I would look like Gov. Arnold and I would be a smooth operator in the area of the ladies. But unfortunately it takes more that thinking, so lets move on. Another similarity is they both have endless possibilities. Take dating for example. You basically have your pick of thousands of people to date. You then have thousands of prospects of things you can do with this person on a date. So many places to chose to eat, movies to watch, theater to cat nap in, picnic to really try to impress her with, etc. There is definitely not a shortage of ideas you can come up with in the planning stages of dating. Or the part of dating that I refer to as the wishing stage. The same can be said about the planning stage of working out. There are so many ways in which we can work out our body. Running, weights, sports, etc. All of which are very easy to think about. Mainly because for dating there is no pressure of failure and working out there is no pressure of motivation. This leads me into the other similarity. The actual task at hand. The first time working out or the first time back to working out after a layoff can be brutal. You are still not sure what is going on. I know I must have looked like a deer in headlights when I started working out again. I was uncomfortable and everything seemed foreign to me, probably because most of the women were lifting more then me. And even the white towels they pass out seemed to be two shades tanner then me. Just the first time back is hard hurtle to jump. That is why sometimes it takes a while to go that first time. This is all the same with dating. getting into the game or ever getting into the game can be tough. It is different, and butterflies come with it. I know I must look like a deer in headlights every time I almost get to the point of going on a date. (yes you read that right) It is tough to get back into either of these two things, working out though I have found is much easier, even to the point where I have gotten back into it well over 5 times since I have gotten back into dating. (yes you read that right) Ok, lets move on. So what happens when you work out that first week? You are sore. I know I get extremely sore. I have more energy during the day because my body is getting stronger and healthier but in the first few weeks it is tough because I feel my limbs would feel better if I cut them off and I just became a pillow for the rest of my life. After a few weeks of getting into a routine at the gym you should start feeling good about yourself and working out. This is when you start fine tuning your work out and it starts becoming easier without as much motivation as in the beginning. This is also true in dating, I hear. One you get over the hump and start dating it should become easier and easier. Maybe you date the same person many times and it takes less and less self confidence. Maybe you become a dating machine and you go broke(unless your a girl and you run out of places to stash you jewelry). Both working out and dating have this same positive similarity in that both get easier with more time put into it. They however share a somewhat negative similarity as well. This would be discouragement. When I have worked out for some time, I start to feel good about myself. I think, "Man, I could enter a marathon or a strong man competition!" That is until I look to my left and my right and say, "Man, these girls are still stronger and faster then me!" It can get a tad bit discouraging when you feel you have been trying your hardest and it seems you are having no improvement. This is the same for dating. One can think they have dating down and then you meet someone that makes it seem ten times easier. I know I have met that person almost daily. What makes this person so much better at dating then me? I realized besides the million extra dollars and the confidence mountain on his side, there is nothing anyone has I don't. We are all on an even playing field. (hahah ok so that goes against my thought process for many years) But, it does lead me into a final similarity in our two topics. We all have the ability to go to the gym, to train hard, to focus, to excel, to meet our goals and to feel great about it. We all start off on the same foot when getting into our personal workouts. And that is the first step. Same with dating. It is the first step that everyone has to take, even those extremely popular beautiful people had to take the first step. Given, I think some peoples first step happened precisely at the same time they took their true first step as a baby, yet they had to take one too. So it is fair to say that working out and dating are amazingly similar if you want them to be!
These two actions are actually more similar then I thought when I started this, but I am also sure I could write a blog to share how they are completely different, but hey! I hope everyone has gotten there first steps in and are enjoying this Valentines Day for what it is. A special day thought up by Hallmark to help motivate people to get to the gym, I mean to have a reason to take that step toward dating. It is a special day to share with a person you care for. Just like a workout though, you got to work hard at it to keep it going. So it is really more then one special day, it is one of life's workout routines.
Until next time.