Easy Sunday mornings

A chilly breeze and bright  sunshine this morning in central Texas, after cold rain and dampness all day yesterday. Too cold still for playing golf with my buddy, Gator, so I'm off to the  gym here in a little while  for another calorie-busting workout. About six weeks ago, I spent a fantastic three-day weekend down in Galveston with two old school chums, Joe and Bobby, playing  golf and eating seafood, watching college football on TV. We'd all put on a few extra pounds -- OK, more than just a few pounds -- since the last time we'd seen each other, and we made a vow to all  be a little smaller when we got together again over the Christmas holidays. Apparently, we've all made good on  that  vow, and  so it will be interesting to see next weekend down at The Woodlands.

I've known Bobby since the first grade. We grew up three blocks apart on the northwest side of Houston, near Spring Branch. Joe came along when we were in seventh grade. The three of us are very different people, in many ways, but for some unexplainable reason, there is a strong  bond between  us and  we are  closer than  close friends. They love me and I  love them. They inspire me to be better. I'm not sure what I do for them, but I am extremely grateful to have them.

It's Christmas vacation from school  right now, and life is  good. So far, I've dropped about 15 pounds, and  I'm  getting  stronger  and  fitter every time  I work out. It feels  good. For a couple of years there, I was in  quite a slump, even entertaining the idea of joining the  Peace Corps, mostly just to get the hell away from it all. But things have improved tremendously, and  I'm  learning to have a more positive outlook on life, and on myself.

I've always cringed when people talked about loving  yourself. That always just sounded way too strange for me -- "I love myself!" Oh, really? Well, let me tell you something. You ain't all that great.

But I recently have started figuring out that loving yourself is not a bad thing. It doesn't mean you're a flaming egomaniac. It just means that you  think you're a good person, warts and all. You always  try and  treat others with love and kindness. Hard to do, and not always possible for me, but I'm workin' on it. Now, if I could just learn to smile a little more ...