The Magic of Urgency
My cell stop watch read 01:10:58. We completed our five mile walk in that time. For us, this is very good considering it used to take us about 01:20:00.
Whip Thy Self, Love the Pain
This week I began to tell myself to move my ass faster every single time I felt my self slacking. Not once in a while – every. single. time. I never did this before. I used to slack 1/4, perhaps even 1/2 a mile before prodding myself. Like Oh yeah, I am doing this for my health.
It is scary to think that urgency is not simply there in this instance. It must be created and then it must be conjured when needed. Sure, urgency is instinctive when one encounters the tatted up guy running full speed at you on a dark lonely street swinging a bolo knife over his head, screaming something about death to all that wear a man-purse. No need to tell myself to pick up the pace at that point.
With guitar I have done something like this. I have a rule that there must NEVER be an ugly note. They can be off beat, a bit too loud or soft, fast or slow, but they must be beautiful having an agreeable timbre, no exceptions. Each time I hear ugliness, I stop right then, back up and fix it whether it be Bach, a study, a scale, even tuning the freakin’ instrument. I have made beauty on the guitar an urgent matter. And that too had to be created. It did not exist before I made it up. Having perfectly shaped and buffed nails on the plucking hand is absolutely critical.
Double the Insanity
Now imagine the power of a couple with a mutual sense of urgency. For instance, Tammy pushes the pace at the beginning of the walk when I need it and I push at the end when she does. We made our walk and our coffee time urgent matters. They must happen each day with very few exceptions that can be classified as emergencies, which by definition are rare. They are the first two items of each day, even on vacation, even on holidays, even when it is 80 degrees upon waking and we sweat before we leave the house, even when my toe nail hurts or there’s a little blister on my heal, even when I eat my banana too fast and have gas.
They are simply that important to us. Period.
And what a delight to have eliminated deliberation over whether we will be taking a walk and talking over coffee on any given day. We wake knowing that each day will have an auspicious start. That is mighty powerful. Interrupting these daily activities can make usually amiable people like us unbearable and no one wants that, do they?
Yes, we obsess about a few items. But words like urgent and obsess have been hijacked by pop-psychology, positive thinkers and those who’d scoff at turning the power of discipline and focus on themselves. These incredibly fruitful habits did not not exist before we created them and made them an urgent matter.
Reasonable: No Friend to Urgent
Perhaps someday we’ll get five miles down to 01:00:00. Which will of course mean that we hire the guy with bolo knife to join us on our walks, but if that’s what it takes… It may be completely unreasonable to create urgency, but being reasonable about your passions and other good habits is completely unreasonable.
The next day the stop watch read 01:10:03. And – Holy Crap! 01:08:45 on 1.26.2013 and again on 2.8.2013,
- 1:07:45 on 2.15.2013!
- 1:07:28 on 3.11.2013
- 1:06:20 on 4.5.2013
- And, and , and , and………
8 comments about "The Magic of Urgency"
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We are Tammy and CJ, and we are tickled pink you chose to spend time with us. Frolic about
a bit, poke around, and get
your snicker on. Now, get over here, so we can pet you and
feed you nuts.
Wow, that is so awesome. My wife and I have completely different morning routines (she practices violin and works out before I even wake up, and I am an early riser!!!). She would love it if we walked together. I am going to try it this summer…thanks for the inspiration!
Tony@WeOnlyDoThisOnce recently posted..The Art of Doing Nothing
Thanks for your comment, Tony! Ah, a home filled with melodious sounds. What pieces are the two of you working on anyhow? The trombone makes me think of Brucker’s symphonies.
It is our daily business meeting, that morning walk. We cover work/blog issues in a general way and often discuss what books we are reading. Also, the squirrels regale us with their antics.
I’d love to know what pleasures a morning walk together brings you and your wife if you begin this summer!
That’s such a great point! I’ve always felt a little unreasonable about my love of systematization, but, as you point out, the unreasonable thing would be to NOT be unreasonable about it.
Thank you Shanna, for your comment! I feel that being reasonable about what you love compromises it, waters it down, and our connection to it with the guilts and doubts and the like. And I have caught myself being reasonable as an excuse for lessening my efforts. As in, the people in the waiting room will think I am weird if they hear me play this scale a 47th time. Then I tell myself to play the effing scale, lazy-ass. And get it right!
Note to Self: Avoid reading Jolly Hoombah to Jess whilst driving, as hysterical laughter is a safety hazard.
The banana’s caused the hazard inducing laughter. The suggestion to hire the bolo knife guy also negatively effected our driving safety.
Jess feels that her aversion to walking would actually lead her to taking on the bolo guy instead of running from him.
Jokes aside, for now, Jess and I love the obsession and urgency you attach to your morning rituals. Whilst we don’t have any rituals as strong as yours, we do notice many of them developing in our daily existence.
Mark Adam Douglass (@MADouglass) recently posted..Thrash Hard
Mercy me! Please, no smack-up derby down under for you two! You must finish all the great things you’ve begun! And you’re not yet married for crying out loud. I think what I have read of your rituals is grand, such as the whole resistance leaving the building bit. Who does that, but you guys?
Thank you so much for visiting and commenting and refraining from such activities while driving in the future. The solution to all this is, of course, to hire a driver for days that we post.
I doubt you’ll need the guy with the bolo knife to help you to get down to a flat hour if you’re acting with such consistency guys…keep it up. And with all that walking CJ, I’m sure you’re earning plenty of hummus free days.
Particularly with exercise, with reading, and with writing I’ve adopted the same mentality. I use that sense of lost interest, of tiredness, or discomfort whilst in the process of whatever I’m doing, not as an excuse to give up but as a call to bolster my efforts.
It can feel counterintuitive to immediately refocus on something your mind is instinctively telling you to stop doing, but like you say it gradually strengthens both your focus and your resolve. Mildly masochistic it may seem not to take the breather, but therein lies the difference between mediocrity and real achievement.
Of course CJ, you know that for me it doesn’t extend as far as my nails.
Such an easy-going post but with a profound message, it made great reading.
Best wishes to you both, Gareth
Gareth recently posted..It’s personality that counts…right?
Gareth! A pleasure to have you as always. Yes, that discomfort can be turned into a war cry! I’ve had to wage war on Bach many a night and I should have learned long ago from those experiences what I needed to apply to my own fitness. I still fall firmly within the limits of the mediocre in most- ok just about all – areas, but I’ll be damned if I don’t die fighting it.
Thank you for you thoughtful comment and have a fun evening! Or is it evening where you are? Have fun at any rate;)