The distraction and opportunity of being a slave to someone else’s schedule. Its 4:50 am. My dad is up and awake and humming and whistling. He is happy as a bedbug in a mattress. He is excited and cranked. We are taking a road trip to Tennessee to spend the whole day looking at antique cars. His agenda. At 4:50 am.
I would rather be having a root canal. The whole structure of my day is wrecked. Up too early. Not enough sleep. No workout today (except patience. Is patience a muscle??) No decent food. No development work. And on and on I could go, this is just the beginning of the list. I don’t even like antique cars very much.
But this isn’t about me. I agreed to go on this trip. You agreed to take that job, marry that person, choose those in-laws, have those children, live in that neighborhood, go to that college, study that degree, make that investment, fail to make that investment, take that posture, have that attitude, and live this life that you have largely chosen. This is also true for me. My dad is hopping and eager for this day trip! Its evident by how early we are up and how energized he is this morning. While the day will be mostly agonizing for me personally, its a dream for him. Why would I not agree to go?
We all make lots of decisions and even deciding to not make a decision is really a decision. We all agree to many things in our lives that are not necessarily our first choice. Ask any mother with a newborn, but we still made the decisions that brought us to this place and once the decision is made and things are in motion, all that you generally have left to work with are attitude and effort.
So how much effort are you gonna put toward make this as good as it can be, whatever it is? What’s your attitude gonna be? Are you going to be sullen and resentful all day because you are doing something less than your ideal day, or are you going to make this the best day that is can be given the parameters it already has?
Go optimal. Give it your best effort and attitude.
I would rather be having a root canal. The whole structure of my day is wrecked. Up too early. Not enough sleep. No workout today (except patience. Is patience a muscle??) No decent food. No development work. And on and on I could go, this is just the beginning of the list. I don’t even like antique cars very much.
But this isn’t about me. I agreed to go on this trip. You agreed to take that job, marry that person, choose those in-laws, have those children, live in that neighborhood, go to that college, study that degree, make that investment, fail to make that investment, take that posture, have that attitude, and live this life that you have largely chosen. This is also true for me. My dad is hopping and eager for this day trip! Its evident by how early we are up and how energized he is this morning. While the day will be mostly agonizing for me personally, its a dream for him. Why would I not agree to go?
We all make lots of decisions and even deciding to not make a decision is really a decision. We all agree to many things in our lives that are not necessarily our first choice. Ask any mother with a newborn, but we still made the decisions that brought us to this place and once the decision is made and things are in motion, all that you generally have left to work with are attitude and effort.
So how much effort are you gonna put toward make this as good as it can be, whatever it is? What’s your attitude gonna be? Are you going to be sullen and resentful all day because you are doing something less than your ideal day, or are you going to make this the best day that is can be given the parameters it already has?
Go optimal. Give it your best effort and attitude.
