Friday, January 14, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR

                                HAPPY NEW YEAR


I want to wish everyone a happy new year filled with health, happiness and peace in your lives.  All in all, 2010 was a good year for me.  I am on the right path for achieving my goals and living a more mindful life.  The year ended on a sad note, my friend Mike Gruber whom I visited in Florida in Oct. passed away on Dec. 22nd.  He was my oldest friend, we were childhood friends and his passing has left a deep emptiness in my heart.  I also put to rest a friendship that I had hoped was a lifelong relationship but in the end, was not meant to be.  It was very sad to lose this person in my life but it was a reality that I must accept and make peace with.  The holidays are always a bittersweet time of year, on new year's eve, I wanted to call my mother and wish her a happy new year and then I remembered she's gone.

I have been maintaining my weight between 195 & 205.  I feel very comfortable at this range and might go down to 190 to see how it feels but for the winter, I feel good where I'm at.  I swim almost everyday and hit the gym at least 3 days to do circuit training on the machines.  I have found that if I don't do something physical during the day, my day doesn't go as well.  As I put it, the water keeps me grounded.  The events of the end of 2010 and just melancholy feeling during the holidays missing my parents, I could have fallen back into old behavior patterns.  I am proud to say that I didn't!  I feel comfortable with my new lifestyle and I own it more with the passing of each day.

I have finally put up a website for my company Musecat Productions at musecat.com  My body and health are under control now and it is time to really devote my time and dedicate my energy to my music and my career.  I am recording new songs for my new album and archiving old tracks that I own to try and get licensing deals for synchronization with film and TV.  The meditation CD is done and at the replicators and I am trying to carve out a niche for myself in that genre.  I would like to do more music for meditation and healing work.  So I am keeping many options open and trying to resurrect my career that was once fairly promising.  I think I'm writing some of that best stuff of my life and feel optimistic about the future.  I'm also playing with a couple of new bands that I am really enjoying playing with.  Good music and good musicians, what a winning combination.  The year is certainly starting off on a high note as far as the music goes.

Health wise, it's a mixed bag.  I'm healthier than I have been since my 20's.  I do have a couple of issues that need to be addressed.  I am going to have sinus surgery on 1/25 to take care of a blockage.  It will keep me out of the pool and gym for a week and I am a little upset with that but it has to be done.  I have had carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand for years and in the left for the past few.  I have exhausted every option short of surgery and after holding out for this long, it is finally at a point where I just can't live with it.  It wakes me up at night, my hands are numb when I swim, I can't feel the keys under my fingers when I play too much.......etc.  I spoke to my hand surgeon today and the plan is as follows.  He injected my left wrist for the second time, he can do it one more time only.  I will go for surgery on the right hand either March 7th or 14th, right after my birthday.  This surgery will keep me out of the pool for at least 10 days, I'm not happy about that but maybe I can hit the treadmill and do some spinning.  I'll work something out but I won't let it become an excuse to gain weight or get out of shape.

Providence intervenes...........An old friend who is now a Chiropractor, saw my post about the surgery on Facebook and offered to give me Cold Laser treatments for my wrists.  I read up on it and it sounds very promising and no surgery.  So I am going to give it a try and see if I get good results.
I can always reschedule the surgery if necessary.  Hopefully it won't be!

I speak of my journey a lot, it is how I look at my life now.  I am on the path I am meant to be on and moving in the right direction!  Life is still stressful at times, I have my share of challenges to deal with, I just don't let them affect me the way I used to.  My outlook on life has changed significantly, and I take each day as it comes, one at a time.  I have been maintaining my weight and healthy lifestyle for some time now and feel more and more comfortable in who I am.  I am a work in progress, but then aren't we all and isn't that what life is all about.

I hope everyone's year is starting off on a positive note or that you can at least find some good in whatever is happening in your lives.  May you be blessed with Peace and Love~

Love & Light,
Marty