I swore I'd never become my father.
He kept a little case on the kitchen counter, sorted by day of the week.
One slot for every morning, for the rest of his life. I grew up watching him fill it.
At 56, I sat in a doctor's office and watched my own future fast-forward straight to a case just like it.
I felt fine. That was the strange part. No aches. No warning. I'd built my whole life on one simple idea. If nothing hurts, nothing is wrong.
Then a routine checkup flipped that on its head. My doctor told me it was time to take my heart seriously and make some changes Soon.
And all I could see was that little case on the counter.
Here's what you have to understand about me. I'm stubborn.
Tell me I have to do one thing every single day from now on, no choice, no end date, and I will turn the whole house upside down looking for another way first.
So that is exactly what I did. And what I found in the next few weeks flipped everything I thought I knew about why I was sitting in that chair.
If you're the type who would rather find your own way than be handed one you can't put down, keep reading. This is the whole story.