Rocky II

No - not the sequel to "Rocky" - where the rematch with Apollo Creed does take place - although that movie has it's share of inspiration, too.

This "Rocky II" refers to another moment of greatness for Rocky Balboa - one that doesn't show up on screen. It was when he gets out of bed at 4:00 a.m. the second morning.

It was a great thing for a bleary-eyed pug to roll out of bed and start to train the day after he was named to fight the Champion, but he would have never made it to a point where he could "go the distance" if he had not gotten up the next day, too - another day when no one was there to cheer (or even to notice) - another day when he was still basically, as fighters go, a bum (one day of training doesn't make you strong, it just makes you hurt).

The day that I wrote the last blog was one of the first times in months that I was able to undertake my modest physical regimen. Health - the Ohio Winter of '10 - spirit struggles - take your pick from the menu of brick walls that had stood in the way. That day I was able to resume my 'cellphone plan for cardio' (set a timer on the phone for 15 minutes - walk away from home until the timer rings - turn & return home, and 'voila' - 30 minutes of cardio).

It turns out that the difficult thing in reality was to go back out & do the afternoon portion, and to go out the next day - that's when I thought of Rocky.

I thought about the moment, unrecorded in the movie, when he got up again at 4:00, & chugged another 5 eggs (still not recommending that, BTW), and went out and jogged one step closer to the prize.

Here's to everyone who is gets up and goes today without cheers, without visible results, sometimes even without any encouragement, and takes the step. Good work.
+++++++
[As always, if this is your first visit to Leaving Nadderby, I invite you to click on the Archives for 2008, then click on February & go to "Looking Back" for an introduction to the site (& an explanation of the name)].