An alphabet of woe

Who among is righteous enough to say: ‘I have not sinned?’ We are arrogant, brutal, careless, destructive, egocentric, false, greedy, heartless, insolent, and joyless. Our sins are an alphabet of woe.

For those of you who weren't really hungry this weekend, let me fill you in. This line is from the Reform Jewish Movement's Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) liturgy. On Yom Kippur Jews confess their sins collectively so not to embarrass those who actually are heartless or insolent. The traditional Hebrew prayer, Ashamnu, is also an alphabetical acrostic.

This year, as always, I was not righteous enough to say, I have not sinned. This year, it was clear that I had committed just a few of these alphabetical sins, most obviously arrogance, carelessness, and destructive behavior.

And that was very clear as I stood for long periods during the communal confessions of these sins.

While the actual pain isn't the point, the time to sit and think about your short comings is exactly the point. My ankle hurt a lot during these extended standing prayers. So when we were sitting there and doing our thing, I had the time to contemplate my arrogance and carelessness.

I believe that after dealing with this injury, or rather not dealing with it, I won't commit these sins again. And it is also part of the liturgy that to truly atone, one must not only be sorry, but not do it again.

Happy New Year Jews and here is to not being an arrogant asshat in 5774. 

Time to set some goals - 2013 Edition

Plain and simple -- This is my public statement of my resolutions for the year. Don't feel obligated to read this one...it is more for me.

Reading
Last year it was 10 books and write more on the blog.  And that was do-able. So I will keep that resolution.  However I want to read at least three classics I have not read before and one book I read in the past but think I should review again as an adult.  I will consult with my English-major-almost-MD sister on the classics.  She most likely still has her collection of books from college.  As for the re-read I am pretty sure I will read The Great Gatsby.

Writing
I want more people to read this blog however I don't want to focus on one topic and sell my soul to the topic for an increase in traffic. So I will just have to write more and be more creative about the ways I talk about issues that are kind of boring.  In this area I also want to have more inbound traffic from fellow bloggers.

For the club, we will created a bad-ass news letter/blog type thing for which we will win many awards and the people will rejoice. 

Running
1,200+ miles for the year. I will PR the Kaiser Half Marathon in February and the Oakland Marathon in March. I will run a 3:45:00 and I will run a negative split marathon.  Extra points if that is one in the same.  I will also beat my 21:22 5K PR in Tulsa.  Because I have become one of "those" people, I want to take on a 50K. This may not happen next year, but I am putting it out there. 

Related Fitness Stuff - I will do planks five times a week and strength train at least twice a week.  Goal weight will be achieved and maintained before I turn 30 (in four weeks).

Life Stuff
Since living in Northern California, Abby and I have yet to go to wine country. This will be fixed this year and in honor of that goal I will drink more wine.   I will watch all of the Frontline episodes on my DVR. I will get back involved with the Jewish community and social justice causes I used to care more about. 

Yup that sums it up.  Here we go 2013. 

The once and future blog post

In four days the year will be over.  Thankfully.

While I have discussed that I am happy the year is coming to an end, it is my duty as a blogger to indulge in the self-indulgent review of my achievements.