(and what you need to interject a little life into your life)

One of my long-time friends emailed me and said – “hey, I’ve got this cabin up in Hayward and I’ve got room for you. Do you want to do the Birkie?”

[The Birkie is a 50k cross country ski race]

I thought about it briefly. Looked at the dates. Nothing on the calendar (unusual). Thought, “hey, can’t be as hard as a marathon and I like the idea of staying in shape.”

Obviously I would need to get clearance from the home front. I asked my wife if she was cool with it. Well…she said yes, but a week or so later her comments made me think she didn’t fully understand what I was getting myself into when she originally said yes.

Anyway, that’s not the point.

The point is this – I agreed to do it because I believed I could do it.

I wrote my friend, said “yeah, I’m in” and I committed to it. Registered online just before the rates went up.

And then as I talked about it with my friends and family, they got all negative and doubty on me – “What? Are you crazy? Shouldn’t you start with something shorter? You don’t even ski!”

Then, last night, while the kids were practicing ski jumping, one friend who has done the Birkie 6 times talked about how he didn’t finish the first 2 times and how hilly it was.

(Hmm. . .ok, starting to sound like more of a challenge).

My wife still questions me about it now as do others.

My point is still this – I believe I can do it – I committed to do it – I am going to do it. End of story.

My advice to those you may be discouraging is this – don’t get all dark on people who are going after something, believe in it, are capable of it – regardless of how crazy you think it is.

My advice to those of you who think you can do something big, outrageous, and maybe even crazy? Go for it.

There’s a reason some experts recommend that you not share your dreams with everyone - they’ll just tell you how impossible they are! (to be clear, though - it’s not like I’ve been dreaming about the Birkie!)

Anyway, I’ve got 107 (+/-) days to get ready. Just got my XC ski poles today so I can practice with the inline skates. . .I’ll keep you posted.

2 Comments »

I just passed my 40th birthday. There are many things I would like to have accomplished by now. But with my aging, maybe I’m also gaining some better perspective as to what’s important.

One thing I had hoped to finish by now was an album/CD for which I had developed a concept well over a year ago (maybe even two?). How much progress have I made on that? Well, I have all the lyrics and a general idea for the whole album, but only recently have been able to get started doing some recording of the scratch tracks.

What I’m learning is that completing the goal may not be as important as working towards the goal. That is, the value is in “the going” and not in “the arriving.” And, as I go, some of the things that capture my time and attention – sometimes seemingly unrelated to my goals – may actually be more important to the bigger picture and even to my goals.

There’s a proverb that says, In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

How we get where we’re going is often much different than we thought, isn’t it?

I used to feel I needed to “pump out a ton of stuff.” Create a lot. Be prolific. Quickly! (Because that’s what leads to “success.”)

Now I’m feeling a little differently. What if that one CD is my “life work?” What if one song is all I have? What if your one book is it? One poem? One sculpture? One photograph? (I’m guessing there’s a whole lot more to our “life work” than what we create. . .)

I’m finding we need to enjoy each step. We need to pour ourselves into each moment, never blowing it off as simply something we must endure to arrive at a distant goal. This allows you and I to take the time to make each step deliberate, worthwhile, and gives us the mindset we need to actually enjoy the “now.”

Fully present. Fully engaged. Every moment.

What’s going on around you - right now - that you can’t see because you’re looking so far ahead?

–
PS I see that this is a bit like my last post. . .I guess you know where my head is at, eh?

PPS As I wrote this, I was (literally) also working on a song for my daughter – not a part of the album I mentioned above, but probably more important. Exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about here. (More on the song later. . .)

5 Comments »