Before I begin the blog, I would like to wish my beautiful and loving wife a very Happy Birthday. I am delighted I get to celebrate the start of her New Year and many more birthdays to come.

A photo from our birthday outing celebrating Sheila’s big day in 2016. She was on the winning team of our first corn-hole tournament.

I love the great outdoors. I love hiking, walking and especially biking. Biking is one of the things that I miss about the United States. When I lived in Washington DC, I would bike as much as 40 miles on the weekends. And there was that time I attempted the nearly 80-mile loop from Washington DC to White Ferry, MD to Leesburg, VA back to Washington DC. While getting to Leesburg was not as difficult as I expected, beside taking me nearly four hours, the trip from Leesburg was awful. From Leesburg, the trail began to climb small hills and wind its way through cookie cutter suburban villages. There were a few times when I was so tired I didn’t know how I would make it back to D.C. Once in Reston, I was able to take a public bus to the Metro and then the subway back to D.C. For two days, my body constantly reminded me of that ride from hell.

Anyway, the point being, I enjoy being outside. Outdoor activities have also helped me remain at a comfortable weight and in some decent shape.

But living in Nigeria has brought an end to all of that…the food is heavy in carbohydrates and riding a bike has its own challenges. Driving too has its own challenges in Nigeria. So I have struggled to stay active (and sadly I have put on a pounds). So in addition to my tennis games throughout the week, Sheila and I recently joined a gym.

 As I said above, I love the outdoors which means I hate gyms. I hate them because they usually are dark, tiny, smelly and void of everything I like about the outdoors. But the positive nature of gyms in Nigeria is that membership comes with sessions with a personal trainer. So at least there is someone to stay on top of you. Today marks our third day with our new trainer Richard. While we are both exhausted we appreciate his efforts and like his friendly nature. I am also posting this so my readers can shame me into continuing my sessions through Christmas. Keep me accountable.

 Proverbs 24:16 says that “a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again…” I just hope that I can keep rising again when this gym membership seems to much…