The long and winding road to fitness, day 39

Holy moly..39 days!  I’m finally starting to feel like this is becoming a habit.  It’s not as much of a struggle as it was.  I’m not saying I don’t still struggle on occasion, but it’s not all day, every day.  And I’m able to bounce back from the not-so-good days quickly, not allowing those days to become weeks and negating all of my hard work.  It’s becoming easier to make the healthy choices, to do what needs to be done on a daily basis.  Good, good, good!

Today was a pretty good day.  My knee didn’t bother me too much at work, so that was a plus.  I didn’t prepare my lunch and snacks last night, so this morning I was rushing around trying to get ready, thought about just going out for lunch, then just grabbed a pouch of water packed tuna, a tomato, a pepper, and a whole wheat sub bun.  That ended up being my lunch…so not too bad.  Tonight I whipped up a smoothie using half a frozen banana, some frozen strawberries and dark chocolate almond milk…this was seriously like a milk shake, but better.  I’m thinking about making one to take to work tomorrow to have for lunch after being outside in the heat in the morning.

I didn’t get a lot of exercise in today.  I walked for a little over 15 minutes and that was it.  My knee was still a little iffy this morning and I was afraid to overdo it.  I did get a lot of walking in at work today again, as usual.  Trying to get things done for tomorrow’s truck and get the stockroom cleaned out at the same time.  It never ends…

So what’s your quick, I’m late, running out the door lunch?  Do you prepare and pack your lunch the night before or try to make time to do it while you’re rushing around in the morning?

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The Confession by John Grisham

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I finished this book in less than two days.  It was that good.  I am a Grisham fan, but I think this may be his best book to date.  It’s possible I feel that way because I have such strong feelings about the subject matter of the book.  That subject is the death penalty.  Yes, this is controversial.   Many people have strong opinions, both proponents and opponents.  I’m no different.  My belief that the death penalty should be abolished isn’t based on any kind of religious views (although, if “thou shalt not kill” applies to people, it should also apply to our government), not because of any sympathy for murderers or rapists, but instead, it’s based on the simple question, “What if you’re wrong?  What if this person is innocent and you execute an innocent person?  How do you remedy that?”

The Confession actually had me in tears.  The story is about a young man wrongly accused and convicted of murdering a female classmate.  From the beginning, the reader understands that the young man did not commit the crime.  I think that made his suffering, sitting on death row awaiting his execution, all the more poignant.  Imagine knowing you were innocent and not being able to get anyone to believe you.  Seeing all of your appeals run their course, knowing that your execution date is getting closer and closer, and not being able to do anything to stop it.

I won’t divulge the entire story, but I will say that this book raises a lot of questions about the death penalty in our country, particularly in Texas, where they sort of have assembly line executions…very few people on death row (and face it, most of the people who are on death row are poor minorities..when was the last time you saw a wealthy white man executed anywhere?) are ever granted a stay of execution. 

The book also raised the question of why so many Christians are in favor of the death penalty.  That’s a question I’ve often asked myself, along with what would Jesus do in regards to the death penalty?  I find it difficult to believe that he would be in favor of it.  Don’t let that stop you from reading it, it’s not overly religious, but it does make you think.

I would hope that thousands upon thousands of people will read this book and question their beliefs about the death penalty, along with the really big question…what if you’re wrong, what if you execute an innocent man?

 

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