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Week 12: Embracing the Better Angels of our Nature and How “Day 1” Can Change All Our Tomorrows
Sometimes when Jacqueline travels a lot, things might seem like they get more complicated. But they don’t.
Because one thing I’ve learned is that’s when it’s most important to simplify.
So in these periods when she’s a road-warrior, things here get pretty basic.
Chop wood. Carry water.
Simple.
Couch to Ultramarathon and Philosophical Dad Stuff (Special Combo Edition)
Spending hours per week running gives one more time to think than normal these days.
One thing I’ve been ruminating on a lot recently has been my father. He passed away a week after my second son was born, now almost three years ago.
He would love this stuff.
He would love the idea of ultramarathon.
He would be so into it. He’d travel to every race he could. Then he’d should up on the course in random places like he always did during races while growing up.
Running like this again makes me feel connected to him.
Long-dormant memories float to the surface often during long runs. Things from childhood. Hi jinks from high school and college. Repressed visions from when I was the worst version of myself.
But usually it’s happy recollections of friends and family.
I often get emotional while running. And when I was first getting back in shape after getting off the mat a few years ago, it was not uncommon for me to cry in the middle of a run.
Because I’d realized how close I’d come to ruining it all, but didn’t.
Because getting my body moving again wasn’t much fun after half a decade of neglect and over consumption.
And because I was rediscovering myself, becoming healthy and confident in my own skin for the first time in years.
I was running with joy.
One of the most powerful things we can do for ourselves is reclaim our health. Along with it comes agency, triumph, and possibility once again.
And while I’d recommend it to absolutely nobody, being lost in the Wilderness and coming back gives someone strength they never knew they had.
This journey is beginning to show its newfound significance, as most audacious goals tend to do.
It’s forcing me to embrace the “better angels of my nature.”
You can’t run long at 40 years-old when you eat like crap. I’m now far too old to outrun a bad diet. And you can’t run long at 40 years-old without getting enough sleep and recovery time.
The struggle continues…
Leadership
This past week kicked off a new cohort of the writing program that catalyzed this journey for me.
I love the opening week of the program. For one thing it’s like the first day of school after summer break. You’re reconnecting with old friends, telling stories from the summer and catching up after the holiday.
It’s also the dreaded “Day 1” for a bunch of folks.
It reminds me of my own first day writing in public. I still have the sticky note on my basement wall. “Hit the publish button and change your life forever.”
It did.
But not the way I expected.
On my own “Day 1”, I was up at 5:30am ready to post my first essay to the world.
On Day 2, I expected to wake up to an inbox full of requests for interviews, job opportunities, money, fame, and free shit.
But there was none of that.
It was just me with 9 “likes” on Twitter. (X?)
Although my ego was a bit bruised, I kept at it. After the 30 days program, I expanded it to 500 days of writing.
Over those 500 days, things gradually changed.
I spent time reading the work of good writers. I emulated them. I copied their methods. In some cases, I became friends with them.
I showed up every day. Whether sick, on vacation, or just plain not feeling it. I wrote, and posted in public, every day. No excuses.
Lacking excuses there, I started getting after it in other areas of life. Embracing the grind of daily writing gave me confidence to embrace the grind elsewhere. I became clear about my most important goals and why.
Set better goals, get better life. Go figure.
I became present again; with my wife and kids, with my friends, with my colleagues, with myself even.
And I realized that these are my “good old days”, forever changing my perspective on the “grind” as a parent.
500 sunrises came and went.
I’d gotten promoted. I’d made a little money from writing. I’d (self) published two ebooks. I’d made friends with badass people from all over the world through the power of the internet.
And I was happier, more fulfilled, and more inspired than ever before.
It all started with the courage to hit some stupid “publish” button on Day 1.
One time changed all my tomorrows.
Imagine what could change yours.
“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” Basil King
Live triumphantly. See you next week.