January has had some very good karma. I have been very lucky to experience the feeling of it firsthand, and it has made me a little better off. It seems to be seeping into the pores, or at least I hope that it does, to rejuvenate my system (and yours) to keep us healthy and optimistic. Good goes round (our mind and body).

It all started two weeks ago, when, on an otherwise ordinary day (the precise time these things always happen) word spread like wildfire that a plane touched down in the Hudson River. Luckily, I wasn't flying through North Carolina that day (though a frequent place to transit through to some of the Gulf Coast's coolest cities). But it did give me pause to reflect ...

How ironic that our dirty, disgusting, smelly, mafia-sin-infested Hudson River was turned into the graceful arms outstretched to save all of those people.

The chances of this miracle happening were so slim, it defied all odds -- some credit due of course to Cap'n Sully. The people who made it out weren't the only lucky ones. We as a city and a people were lucky to have avoided that tragedy in our lives, no matter where we lived.

I fly a lot. When cramped in the aroma therapy row of a plane (last row), these things cross your mind from time to time.

And then this past week -- spent in Washington, D.C. -- was a chance to experience the collective voltage of over 2 million people celebrating the end of an era and the beginning of another, and coming together to witness history.

No matter your view or background, it was undeniable that the "current" flowing through the city was contagious and overwhelmingly positive -- a flavor of positive energy I have never tasted before.

The last few weeks have juiced me up enough to make any knee pain and any remorse about having a long term chronic illness feel like it has little consequence.

I hope the good karma makes everyone feel this good. It's a free drug and hopefully there's plenty more in store for all of us.

Last night I was in the men's room at a restaurant. No news there. While I was washing my hands, I witnessed an interaction which lasted maybe 10 seconds, but will stay with me forever.

Probably not what you think.

There was a man standing in the middle, I'd guess about 45 years old, unwrapping a sealed plastic bag with tubes dangling from it. A second man, much older, asked what he was doing. Without skipping a beat, the younger man looked up and with a half smile replied "God gives us all challenges," and then proceeded to go into the stall to -- I'd only imagine -- swap out a colostomy bag.

"God gives us all challenges" -- that sent shivers down my spine. I'm not a religious person, I wouldn't personally qualify a medical condition with religion, but I did take a minute to reflect. That man had a very admirable way of looking at a very bad medical situation.

God gives us all challenges.

I'm not sure where all of the motivation has come from, but I have worked out (at the gym no less) the past four days in a row. That's like unprecedented. Especially since I didn't work out during the entire month of November.

Hey, life happens.

November came and went, there was a lot of mass consumption of food, some family thrown in there and unfortunately, no time for the gym.

Until this week that is.

Perhaps it's the looming holidays, or the stress or the reality that my belt just earned an additional hole (the least scientific way to measure, but the most depressing way to determine weight), but I have a bee-in-my-bonnet (as they say) to work out, sweat my tush off and get back into shape. This body looks like it's ready to be donated to science fiction.