Thoreau's Laughing

Pride

2011-02-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I am proud of myself. It's rare, but I find myself smiling inside, and that pride usually comes not from ability, but from overcoming something.

Today, I was proud. I was home with my son, who had the vomit bug going around. So I was in school at 5:30 for sub plans, then came home to prep for the next day's classes, caught up on some paperwork for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica, and did some grading as well as created a PowerPoint for my Holocaust class. I sate for about two hours straight, something I rarely do.

Then I stood.

Or tried to.

And my bag froze.

As the day went on, my back was never right, but I had an important workout for my marathon training. So I stretched, and tried to run, but couldn't. So I stretched some more, and tried again. A big F.

But I continued stretching, and stretching, and then hopped on the treadmill. The back was painful, and I had to plan every step carefully, staying rigid, planting my foot in just the right place, at just the right spot. As my back loosened up, I was able to run, but it was hard, hard work to get to the point where I could run hard. I finished the workout, showered, and sat again, filled with pride not at the outcome, but the effort I put in.

I wonder how often people put in an effort they are proud of. Isn't the effort all that matters? I'd like to think that we learn more from effort, and the times of determination and resilience, than when we enjoy a success based on talent or luck.

Today was not about a medal, or a performance any one witnessed. It was about me, fighting through that which I could have easily succumbed to. So rather than the pleasure from the successful repetitions, or the 4.25 miles of intervals I can log into my logbook, it's the fact I put in an effort to even be able to climb onto the treadmill I'm proudest of.

Here's to effort.

Effort and Goals

2011-01-31T10:55:00.001-08:00

We’re a society of, for the most part, dogs chasing their tails. We spin faster and faster, chase harder and harder, our jaws snapping and our mouths frothing. But for what? For more of something, but of what we’re not quite sure. So rather than stop and figure out why we’re on this chase, or what it is we’re pursuing, we continue to run and spin and froth.

This is because so few have both a goal and an effort. Most of us have one or the other, but few have both. “I’m going to retire early with a house on the beach and a martini in hand.” “I’m going to get that promotion by landing the new account.” “I’m going to pass Mr. Hamel’s class with a 90.” “I’m going to make All-State.”

All goals, and admirable ones at that. * However, without effort, they’re useless. The man does nothing to save or invest, or search for affordable beach hotspots to retire. The employee works 9-5, doing what is necessary to keep her job, but does nothing to get ahead or stand out. The student never seeks extra help. The athlete practices, but only at practice. Each of the four has a tangible, worthy goal, but the effort to accomplish it is absent.

And then there’s the man who saves all his money, his retirement and mutual fund accounts, slowly but surely accumulating wealth. The employee works extra hours every day, staying long after the last peer has slipped home. The student reviews all their essays, writing and rewriting until they sparkle and shine with their depth and precision. But to all three, I ask “For what?” Why save the money? Why work the extra hours? Why earn that A? For what are you working? With no goal, the wheel spins, the axle smokes, and the dog never quite catches its tail. Or anything of substance or worth at all.

*No such thing as an admirable goal, you say? Think of people who live each day with those all-too-common goals: “I’ll show him who’s boss;” “Over my dead body will Susan catch that bouquet;” “There’s no way Joey’s going to buy that guitar – I’m getting there first.” Those are goals, and useless and petty goals at that.

Time

2011-01-27T10:44:00.001-08:00

It's something we all want more of, each and every one of us, and yet it's finite and we'll never have more of it. We want to slow it down, drag it out, hold a moment here and there forever, freezing it, and yet time is one of the few aspects of life that is fully out of our control, unyielding to our wishes and hopes and fears. A second is a second, a day a day, a year a year, and all the effort in the world won't change it.

What we need is a better sense of priorities, not only for ourselves, but for others. Here's a set of rules that, if all followed, would make time be less an enemy to be overcome and grappled with and more a single factor among many in our lives.
1) The Pareto Principal, or the 80/20 rule. Learn it, live it, love it. Prioritize. Knowing what must get done and what you want to get done seems a lost art. Students struggle finishing homework yet text and e-mail and chat on the phone for ours a day. Adults struggle to fulfill family and job duties, yet watch hours of television or web surf for hours a day.
2) My priorities should not necessarily be yours, and yours should not be mine. At least not always, every time.