Looking to the Future

After enjoying the festive period, with lots of tasty food and drink (including many Sri Lankan curries on my holiday), I’m finally back into my exercise regime. I must admit that I haven’t been to the gym in some time, so I’m starting back gently with swimming and light cardio. I find that diet and exercise have now become an important part of my life as I feel that it’s something that I can do to give my body the best fighting chance to carry on combating my cancer. I’m also trying to eat cleanly by cooking most of my own food, having lots of fruits, veg and protein along with lowering my carb intake to a degree. I didn’t always feel like this – I went through a very long phase of thinking “stuff it, if I’m going to die young anyway, so I might as well eat what I like!” I still have periods where I eat pizza (my downfall) and drink sugar-filled cocktails as I think that I need a balance – eat what I enjoy, but rein it in enough to keep  my general health pretty good. I also feel more positive about everything when I know that I’m doing what I can to keep myself going.

I got my standard Christmas gift from my Dad (money to buy something I actually want). I decided that I would finally put it towards getting an electric piano so that all of my childhood years of practice wouldn’t go to waste. It had been on my mind to purchase one for some time but I used to wonder what the point was in bothering with learning things if I wouldn’t live to see the benefit of it. I have been really enjoying playing again and have spent many hours over the last week getting lost in learning new pieces.

I also decided to finally learn to speak some level of conversational Spanish. This is another big step for me as I’ll be learning something totally new to me (apart from the basics that I’ve picked up on holidays). I’ve got a holiday to Cuba booked in May so I’ll be able to try out my new skills. I’ve also booked a holiday in August and although I’m excited, there is still a part of me that is nervous about booking things so far into the future as I might not be able to go. Holidays in particular are a concern when planning ahead as the utterly ridiculous travel insurance costs to get fully covered mean that I will have to foot the bill myself if I have to pull out (I was once quoted £3000 for a 2 week holiday!). One bonus is that I can now get the super strength sunscreen that I use on prescription!

I’m feeling pretty positive so far this year and I am biting the bullet with respect to planning things for the longer term – assuming that everything carries on smoothly for me (fingers and toes crossed!) I don’t want to miss out on opportunities and have lots to look forward to.