steady effort
I had a conversation with a colleague about this before but the topic has really grown inside me. I now believe it even moreseo and have even more examples as when I started thinking this about a year ago.
The most fruitful things in life are not things you can buy (duh) but those things that require STEADY EFFORT.
I used to be fat. Would cry about why I couldn’t be thin. I was so successful in my job, why not this too? I was so intellectually SMART about weightloss and read a ton of great material on the Web, oxygen, fitness, shape magazines all the while still being fat.
There are the things in life that - if you can do it CONSISTENTLY - will give you the best outcomes in life.
No matter what you are willing to pay you cannot get these things. You simply have to do the work - and not just once or twice! That kills us, I know.
Parenting - you really have to give it CONSISTENT and steady effort to raise a healthy well-adjusted kid. Can’t take a year or two off. Or just do a great job in the beginning. Or rush to "catch up" later when he’s 12. Buying or reading all the parenting books in the world also does nothing. Can’t just buy them the best of the best and expect them to turn out alright. You have to put in the effort and consistently be there with your kids.
Relationships - Can’t just do nice things when it works for you. Can’t just show up to your family’s house on a holiday a year and expect to have a deep connection with them, if that’s what you expect. Relationships are built with consistent effort - even a small note on a regular basis is better than one huge effort very rarely.
Finances - like wine that ages with time, your finances are something that if you are consistent and methodical with - giving your best effort - you can grow pretty well. Same thing with repairing your damaged credit. You can’t just hope to win the lotto and bam take care of that debt and credit score. You’ve got to show a track record of consistent, incremental COMMITTMENT.
Working out/eating right - You can’t have extreme highs and lows. I couldn’t work off the pounds until I just got out there and did it - pounding the pavement day in and day out. You can’t think about it and the minimum effort to give. Even if you aren’t a rockstart coming right out of the gate, you will make MORE progress by giving what you are able and coming back the next day and giving it effort and attention again. and the next day. and the next day.
I used to wish I could just PAY to lose the pounds. Walking into 24Hour Fitness and seeing the Biggest Loser promotions "Lose 15 pounds in 6 weeks! Prices starting at $59" I’d joke to my significant other "That’s a bargain - let me go pay for that right now." It just doesn’t work that way.
"You can’t have 9 women pregnant for a month and expect to have a baby" You just have to go through the journey. May as well enjoy it.
June 11, 2008 at 5:24 pm
If you can’t be happy where you are at, chances are likely that you won’t be happy where you want to go. Rather than working to get to where you think happiness lies, work to make where you are at, happy. So yeah, may as well enjoy the ride, who knows, you may just find happiness while doing so…..
June 30, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I love you body auditor. Must not have been very clear that day because that wasn’t what I was getting at. I am really content where I am at in life but was tryin to get at somethin else