I just finished a run that I really didn’t feel like doing. I thought it was going to feel crappy. It, in fact, felt a little crappy. I was up too late last night. My nutrition wasn’t good yesterday. I didn’t drink enough water before I went out. I was still a little sore from Friday’s run. Plus I waited too late to go out (after sleeping in) and the sun was up and a little too warm.

If I knew it wasn’t going to be a good run why did I go out?

I am running my next half marathon, the Columbus Marathon, in less than a month. I have a goal of finishing with a time faster than my last half marathon. I am way less likely to achieve this goal by sitting on the couch and not trying.

This idea is at the core of the vision statement I built for Operation Melt: creating a world where no goal dies of loneliness.

I almost had a different life story. I was on the way to an early death because of not taking care of myself. I was 325 pounds, had undiagnosed high blood pressure, high stress, poor nutrition and a slew of other things I have since corrected.

Making the situation worse is that I watched this happen with my dad. I watched him live his entire life dramatically overweight. He developed diabetes and he had to have a back surgery caused in part by lack of movement. He was confined to a walker and a scooter and he was only in his 50s! Then I watched as he faded away over a few months of going back and forth from the ICU to a skilled nursing facility due to some unexplainable illness followed by aggressive hospital-acquired infections. This all led up to those final moments when I was in the room as he finally faded away from the world at age 59. I was on this same path though not as dramatically as him.

My weight had always bothered and embarrassed me. Growing up as the fat kid you get picked on and bullied through your childhood. Then you grow up and it continues in much more subtle ways. You become very sensitive about it because it dominates your life. Will that chair support my weight? Where can I find new clothes that fit me? Why did I eat all of that?

For years I wanted to fix my weight but I never did. I was on a path where the goal of fixing my weight almost never had a chance. I almost didn’t even try.

When a goal that is important to somebody is never even attempted that goal dies of loneliness. I want to help stop this from happening. I want to stop it for myself and I want to  help others give their goals the attention that they deserve.

This doesn’t mean that every goal will be a success. Failure is ok. It is respectable to set a goal, give it your best effort and fall short. It isn’t fun and it doesn’t feel good to fail. But it is definitely better than never even trying.

I finally chose a different path. I chose to give my goal life and I achieved and exceeded it. Now I am living my healthiest and happiest life and I couldn’t be more proud that I did. By choosing not to let this huge goal that seemed completely out of reach die of loneliness I also proven to myself that I can do anything. That makes me unstoppable!

Do you want to be unstoppable? Join me in building a world where no goal dies of loneliness.