my books

Two weeks are now up. What beautiful days we have had. Sunshine and temperatures you wouldn't expect until April or May. We went out nicely.

Walking, cycling, coffee-to-go with apple pie. The apple pie in such a clumsy container with a plastic spoon. If you're not careful, you'll have hot coffee all over your pants before you know it or the apple pie is on the floor. But it's really nice nonetheless. Now that we are in the middle of the lockdown, we can go outside corona-proof and get some much-needed vitamin D. The newspapers have had enough about vitamin D, about sitting inside and corona. Vitamin D is magic, the experts say, and it would affect the disease if you have corona. I'd say everyone has their own opinion. What has been proven is that excessive use of alcohol can lead to a vitamin D deficiency. Your body is a unique system and needs all the vitamins to function properly. It is just an indication to give up the alcohol and enjoy the sun more.

The great thing about the IkPas challenge is that you can use all the wisdom and experiences about the use of alcohol on the IkPas.nl site can be found. Everything just together. And you can ask any question you have. For me, that is a great support at any time. I love wisdom books. You know them. The large vitamin book, the green book with the official spelling, Mao had his red book, and every region in the Netherlands has its own wisdom book. Interesting though.

I have two of those so-called wisdom books myself. On October 1, 2016 I started my pension diary. Almost every day I write down a story about what I experienced that day or just a thought that comes to my mind. I also paste everything in it, photos, drawings, directions, maps. Sometimes there are gaps of a few weeks, sometimes of a few months. Every time I come back to writing, and it is so nice to read certain things. Where were we, and what was that restaurant like? Which route did we take during our holiday in the spring of 2018. I am already working on book 5. I started this fifth pension diary on March 10, 2020; a day after Billy's seventh birthday, and it describes a year of corona.

I'm not really a diary writer, it remains a somewhat superficial description of what goes on inside me. Whoever reads it later will first have to struggle through the bad handwriting. I think I've said something about alcohol use twice, and I really should do something about it. I stubbornly avoid listing the number of glasses, or the bottles that go through in a week, month, or year. I'm an expert in ostrich politics.
If it gets dangerous or the truth comes close, head in the sand.

The other booklet I have is the most important of all. I carry it everywhere with me. I also call it my 'discipline book'. This is the book that ensures that I don't drink alcohol during the week and that I moderate on the weekend. I record all my sports activities in the booklet. I exercise for 3 days and then I take 1 day off. I try to exercise 20 days a month. When I go to work out, I get up at 7 am and at a quarter past seven I am on the exercise bike, or I do a self-made boot camp in the stairwell of the apartment where I live. For an hour. I write everything down in that book. Date, time, and distance. When I'm on vacation, I go for a walk. 7 hours up and an hour of walking and doing exercises. The most important thing is that I have made an agreement with myself that I may not drink alcohol the day before I start exercising. If I sin, my discipline booklet says that I will not make the 20 sports days.

Now it seems like I'm a real sports fanatic. None of that, I enjoy life intensely, eating and drinking. But working more than 50 hours a week for 36 years cannot simply be phased out. After my retirement I looked for a daily routine, getting up early, exercising, having breakfast, and then starting the day fit. In addition, I was looking for a way to reduce alcohol consumption. The self-invented 20 day sport challenge helps me with that. Aging comes with all kinds of inconveniences. You don't just stay fit and strong for yourself, but also for those around you. For your partner, your children, your grandchildren. How nice is it to participate. How nice is it to be physically good and thereby also become mentally stronger. In addition, you enjoy those small moments more when you do drink a glass of wine or a beer. Think about how you could complete the 20-day sports challenge. IkPas and sports is a unique combination. I'm happy with it.