Good choices today bring future rewards

Published 1:30 am Sunday, January 1, 2017

One snowy morning this winter, I pulled on my jeans and noticed that they felt snug, which was problematic because they were the largest jeans I owned.

All the stress of 2016 had finally caught up with me. It was time to fight my way back to an exercise regime, and a walk seemed like the perfect way to start.

Wandering around the neighborhood that day, I came across an abandoned cottage with boarded up windows and a roof caked with six inches of moss. Most of Edmonds is built-up suburbia, but there are still some edifices that speak for the past.

When I looked at the little house that might have been the former residence of a 1920s shingle mill worker, I was startled to see smoke rise from the chimney.

Was I wrong about it being abandoned? I scanned the fresh snow that covered the yard but saw no sign of footprints. I rounded the corner to get a better look and realized that it wasn’t smoke I saw shooting out of the chimney but warm air. Even though it was a tumbledown cottage, it was still insulated enough to retain heat.

That’s when I started thinking hard about insulation.

Previous to that morning, I never gave much thought to insulation. After all, insulation isn’t glamourous. Home improvement shows never surprise couples with: “Congratulations! Your house looks exactly the same, but now you have double-paned windows and 14 inches of fluff in your attic.”

Choosing to insulate your home is one of those burdensome “adulting” decisions that are the antithesis of fun.

Some people don’t have the luxury of choice. Not every family can rebuild walls, replace old windows or blow fiberglass into their attic. Instead, they are stuck with burning money up their furnace. When my husband and I were first married, we rented an apartment with paper-thin walls that sucked out heat and kept me shivering.

On the same street, one neighbor might pay $750 a month to heat a 1,300-square-foot house, and another neighbor might pay only $175 to heat their 2,400-square-foot home. It doesn’t seem fair, in a way that life is not fair.

Insulation is boring, and yet it represents an essential truism. Make good choices up front, and you’ll reap the rewards forever. Responsible decisions can insulate you from future hardship.

The reverse is also true. Hardship and irresponsible decisions can create too much insulation — especially around the waistline.

When I got home from my walk, I resurrected my bathroom scale, which had been dormant with dead batteries for over a year. No wonder my jeans didn’t fit. I had gained 8 pounds!

Not only that, but I had lost my Fitbit, stopped going to the gym and developed a late-night snack habit.

I stepped off the scale and let out a puff of hot air. It was clearly time to embrace responsibility. I don’t know what 2017 will bring, but I hope it is packed with boringness.

Jennifer Bardsley is author of the books “Genesis Girl” and “Damaged Goods.” Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as The YA Gal.