Today marks 730 straight days of posts on this blog. It started two years ago with a “challenge” by my friend Andy Lausier to share a post every day through the wrestling season. It was not clear what exactly constituted the end of the season, but Andy had done something amazing and inspiring to raise money for his wrestling team (Sacred Heart University, at the time). He cycled roughly 1100 miles from SHU to St. Louis, MO—where the NCAA tournament was being held—in seven days! There has no doubt that my journey, too, would end in St. Louis—at the end of the tournament.
The NCAAs came and went, and I had momentum. Surely, I could make it a year. When, November 14, 2017 came, I felt compelled to keep going. With the help and inspiration of friends, I managed to find topics and keep writing. Now, at the two-year mark, it seems like a good time to slow the pace. It is too easy to get caught up in producing and lose sight on why I write in the first place. I write, actually, to myself. Not that I don’t appreciate my readers, but I find I am my best audience. I mean that I need plenty of help and am easily detoured from my own “well-centered fitness”. I hope I encourage others along the way, but, ultimately, if no one reads my blog, I am none the worse for it. I find myself repeating topics from time to time, so maybe a slower pace will allow me to go deeper in my pursuit of well-centered fitness.
Andy’s challenge paralleled his own personal introspection. He shared many daily thoughts on gratitude and his lessons on “from have to get”. This inspired me to view my circumstances as “opportunities”. I now make it a practice in my morning growth routine to list my “opportunities” for the day—in addition to Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social goals, my mission statement, and my core values. It is one way of reminding me of the “gets”. This has helped ground me for the past two years.
It has not been a rosy two years. I have been plagued with self-doubt and frustration. I have not always appreciated my circumstances, but seeing them as “opportunities” has enabled me to view them in a more positive light.
Pursuing Spiritual well-centeredness, I can see that I am where I am not only for my benefit but moreover for the benefit of other—e.g., my wife, my son, my daughter, my students, and others. I don’t have to like where I am at the moment. I simply have to seize the moment—carpe momento—and make the most of it. I have to seize the moment with and for others.
Physically, I have explored my own fitness pursuits and struggles. I think I have actually grown the most in these last two years of 20-year professional teaching career.
Intellectually, this blog has kept me reading and learning. Struggling to come up with topics has kept me on my toes.
Of all the dimensions of well-centered fitness, I have to admit that the Emotional dimension—the keystone—is the greatest struggle. At times, I know I don’t appear happy to others—particularly family (who see me at my worst) and my co-workers (who rarely interact with me and tend to perceive my desire to grow as dissatisfaction). I have been giving this much thought after a colleague charged me that “If you hate it here so much…”. I realized that it is not me who hates it so much. I am around people who complain but never act. I tend to be one who sees change as essential—kaizen. It is sometimes perceived as complaining, but it is really a burning desire to better serve my students and my profession. I realized that this is passion. For that, I make no apologies. I often don’t like my circumstances, but when I put them under the light of my responsibilities to other—particularly my wife and kids—I get knocked back on track. As such, it is often a bit of an Emotional (well-centeredness) rollercoaster.
Fortunately, I have tremendous Social support. I could not ask for a better wife and family. My “15-minute check-in” with my wife is a daily necessity. When we miss, it leaves a hole in the day.
I have (mostly through social media) reconnected and stayed connected with a lot of important people from throughout the years and places of my life. This journey has brought back memories from time to time and has often reminded me of the importance of relationships. I am blessed relationally.
I don’t know, actually, the degree to which I will be able to slow down and write less frequently. At least the pressure is off. Something tells me that I still have much to learn—and, therefore, much to write.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!