Welcome to January, the new-car smell of the calendar year. With a few weeks of vacation stored in my front pocket and excessive hibernation fuel in my love handles, it’s time to start lamenting the principles of physics.

Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states: “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force”.

I could be wrong, but I think that’s just a cool, 18th century way of saying that pies and other holiday food should come with a warning label. In physics class, they don’t tell you that unbalanced force fits perfectly on a dessert plate. Thanks for nothing, Sir Isaac. Either way, the principles still apply, and every holiday season I fail to persevere through the gauntlet of eats, sweets and cute, little holiday treats.

Towards the end of 2012, Oncor asked its employees to write down one resolution for 2013. In the spirit of participation, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. I blacked out and 30 seconds later I read that I was going to run a half marathon. Here’s proof (because things aren’t real until you post them on the internet):

My pants cried tears of joy while my brain urged my body to sink a little lower into the well-worn couch. It looks like the wagon I fell off of back in October finally realized I was no longer on it. It’s a good thing, because I was starting to feel a little too comfortable on the ground.

In May of last year, I wrote a blog for Cancerwise.org called What Cancer Has Taught Me: Life is a Marathon. In it, I wrote about the symbiotic relationship between the physical and mental challenges of enduring a cancer diagnosis and running a marathon. The experience of internal highs, lows, struggles, and unbelievable feelings of elation and accomplishment throughout my battle with cancer inspired me to challenge myself in unique ways beyond the doctor’s office.

I’m not much of a runner, so the challenge of running for over two straight hours makes me question the effects of chemotherapy on my brain. In fact, if you look on the back of my baseball card, you’ll notice a really impressive stat that reads 0.0. That’s the number of lifetime miles I’ve run in a registered event. I rounded up to the nearest tenth to impress you.

Obviously, 0.0 to 13.1 will be a challenge. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that anything worthwhile isn’t easy. You always see the mountain from the distance, but it’s not until you get up close that you realize the worn paths are from those who once shared the same fears and yet still persevered. Get me my burro.

The whole purpose of sharing this goal is not made in an effort to get Ty Pennington to build a house for me (I’m not saying that I don’t need a house, Ty.) It’s all an effort to challenge myself in ways I wouldn’t experience otherwise, to set myself in motion and feed an internal desire to grow as a person. The truth is that if I can do it, anyone can.

My first registered event will be a 5K at the Fort Worth marathon next month. I know it seems silly to run in the smallest event on the playbill, but consider me a clown available for hire. There’s credence to the whole walk before you can run thing, and with a full-time job and nearly a full load at school, it’s important to my long-term success if I begin with baby food as I wait for my teeth to grow in.

As for you and your resolutions, I wish you all of the strength and endurance required to be the very best at accomplishing the goals that will make you a better person, enable growth and lead you towards a more fulfilled life. Most importantly, as we move forward in this New Year, I ask that you make and keep one more resolution – pick me up off of the ground at the finish line.