A sordid question to be sure.
As a food addict, I’ve learned that in order to see success with my nutrition, I need to build structure around my eating habits. “Cold turkey” isn’t really an option; not only because turkey’s not on the menu (note: I apologize for no bad vegan jokes, ever) but because obviously giving up food for good is not an option. I have trained myself to eat less, and subside on nutrient-dense foods whenever possible.
Similarly as a chronic drunk, I learned that in order to not let that vice (or any other I’ve dabbled in) rule me, I had to build structure around my alcohol consumption. The checklist is long enough now that I barely drink a drop. I have trained myself to not depend on alcohol.
As a songwriter (and writer of various other forms) I’ve learned that if I want to see success in that, I need to build structure around it, by way of ensuring that I have time allocated towards that craft. I have trained myself to be more fruitful with my time.
I’m sure you’re seeing an obvious pattern here, so I’ll cut to the chase before listing off various exercise & training regimens, saving money, and morning practices. As obvious as the pattern may be, the purpose may be not be. My time is organized into soft/suggestive blocks for efficiency and to make sure I spend time with the people who matter to me, but a highly desirable side effect came about from living this way: I’ve permitted myself to live in the moment.
Being precious about my time and efforts doesn’t serve me the way you might think it would. I’m sure you’ve met some fairly neurotic people who fight against their own schedule, trying to maintain control over everything – but the truth of the matter is that so much of life’s nuance and surprises happen between tasks. In essence I like to have a plan, because plans can change, though most of the time they don’t need to. I’ve found that often times a fluid plan can result in getting more done that I’d anticipated, but it’s when I try to ‘wing it’ that disasters can really happen.
There are things I can put off till ‘later’ and there are things I really can’t… but I find a lot more success with those ‘later’ tasks if I give them a real spot on the calendar, rather than just… ‘later.’
So yes, my life is a series of training exercises… but training exercises are not my whole life. The real essence of life happens in-between.
Training this week has been good. I love a good, long, brutal running session at this stage of my life and I’m happy to be able to handle them – though for the next couple months they’ll primarily be happening on the weekends when I can really get lost in the action. Most of my endurance workouts have been on my bike as I commute to & from work, which adds up to 2 x 45min. sessions each day I ride, and I’m riding 4 days a week right now.
I have been looking forward to the triumphant return to school that the myriad of children who’ve taken over my beloved swimming pool are now facing. For now, the weight room will intercede, though… and realistically I shouldn’t be hopping in the water with a relatively fresh tattoo regardless. I’ll give it a couple more weeks.
The Conscious Pilgrim 