LOOKING FOR A LITTLE ACTION

There's no getting around the fact that I'm in my final third.  I'm sixty-seven, and have much, much less life in front of me than behind, so it's time to get a grip on the physical and mental health that will get me to a "good death," while keeping this life rich.

I've decided to give myself over to two disciplines for a year, keep track of what transpires, and hopefully lay the foundation for a continuing practice.

I've been a desk jockey, with a developing gut, and the denial that goes with it.  You know:  Oh, I'm not that much bigger.  If I just don't tuck in my shirt no one will ever notice.  Oh, c'mon, diets are for wimps.  I can eat whatever I want I just have to be a little more moderate.  What the heck, 33 to 35 waist is a natural progression for an older guy.  Until at some point a new reality:  Ai, yi, yi, I can't see my penis!

You know.

Over the years I've tried exercise programs that have either not asked that much of me - all level yoga that I kept to a pretty low level; or bored me to tears - just about anything at the gym.  One afternoon I was at a neighborhood cook-out, talking to a string bean of a gal - I mean 0% body fat - and she told me about a boxing workout she'd been enjoying.  It was music to my ears.  I've been a closet boxing fan since boyhood, (up to Ali, anyway,) but never thought there was an entrance for a civilian who had no interest in competing.  There it was, and so I called two gyms.  The first one, Cappy's, is a Central District institution, has good pricing (with a nice senior's discount) and perfect hours (I like to get this stuff out of the way as much before sunrise as possible,) but sounded way too popular, i.e. crowded.  The second was just opening, was woman owned and operated, and made all the same offers (well, the senior rate was a little less.)  But, I like (and trust) women, and that's what tipped me into Arcaro's Boxing Gym, and Coach Tricia Arcaro.

I also want to discover my mind.   I know the mind inhabits the three pounds of meat between my ears, and in all its unordered chaos contains the universe.   I'd like to explore that crazy immensity in some ordered way.  Insight meditation, grounded in Buddhism, but with as few smells and bells as any Buddhist branch I've discovered seemed to offer the tools, and a beginner's class led by Rodney Smith was just about to start.  My wife, Reggie, was also keen for it, so - perfect.  (Much keener for the meditation than what I hope will be the next step in the boxing workout - sparring.)

Serendipity has been the operating principal.  The whole bit about when the student is ready the teacher will appear.  It appears I'm finally ready, and as much as I've thought I might be ready, and explored forms and philosophies, I've been mostly in contemplation rather than action.

The teachers have appeared.

I'm looking for a little action.