Is it really? All you have to do is quit showing up.

Years ago, I wound up leaving a part-time job like that. They didn’t take too kindly to me calling off one day on short notice, so they took me off the schedule until a sit-down talk could be arranged. As one with authority issues (and a larger need for sleep rather than extra cash from a second job) I just never showed my face there again.

Irresponsible? Probably, but I’m sure they had no problems either letting that part-time seasonable position sunset or hiring another minion to work for the next-to-nothing wage I sweated over.

Bad habits, though, take so much more. I’ve battled demons most would consider relatively tame yet sadly common … namely smoking and my all-too-messed-up relationship with food.

So what does it take to change? Well, try as we might, many of us never truly change. We can channel our energies into positive outlets for awhile, but sooner or later those bad habits creep back into the picture. And we end up right back where we started, or worse.

So what makes this time any different? I couldn’t even begin to speculate.

It was about two years ago that I was the picture of health, at least relative to where I had been. I had dropped more than 50 pounds, made a great friend in a trainer at a globo-gym in town and was even asked to do a before-and-after photo they could put on the wall (I said thanks but no thanks on that one). When my sessions with the trainer (read: money) ran out, he gave me a huge hug after our last round of torturous lunges. I even remember saying, “I’ve worked to hard to give up all the ground I’ve gained.”

And yet, here we are. Not quite at square one, but close. And getting closer by the day.

I’m hoping I’ve reached another turning point, this time turning the trajectory upward on this sine curve to climb the mountain again. I’m hoping the following days, weeks and months (years?) are filled with more successes than failures.

One thing I can promise, I won’t be referring to anything as a “journey.” “My weight loss journey!” “My fitness journey!” “My journey to JC Penney!” Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it.

For now, it’s just my attempt to crawl out of this hole I’ve dug myself into, one burpee at a time.