The fields are barren
With permanent dark shadows
Under the burned trees.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
What do you do with all the time on your hands now that you’ve been laid off ? Sadly, temporarily, I hope; I’ve fallen into the ‘About Schmidt’ complex of dreaming I would do a lot while actually doing very little. From what I remember he watched a lot of T.V., while I’ve been grazing through Youtube.
You would think some of that grazing would encompass some gain in knowledge, particularly as I haven’t just been viewing clips of old Colbert bits, but searching training tips for 100ks. But instead of enlightening me, most of those I just find kind of irritating.
The most annoying clips are the ones aimed at trying to convince me that when I begin to struggle I should just focus on the now; my next step, soon the steps will add up and I’ll get through what would’ve seemed like an insurmountable difficulty by inching my way through my temporary difficulty.
As affirmative head nodding as this Zen’s philosophy appeal is, I’m not buying into it; at least not completely.
Mainly because experience has taught me that having a plan ahead of time, and sticking to that plan as best I can, pays off far better than just living in the moment and dealing with problems as they arise and then just trying to get through them one small step at a time.
Of course, I realize that when people, myself included, are out there, we’ll work with both approaches if necessary; sticking to our plans as best we can, but dealing with those unexpected issues of the moment by just trying to focus on our next move, not the miles ahead. But that’s rarely the focus of these Zen slanted advice videos.
Not to say that a bit of paradox isn’t worthwhile. It’s part of the philosophical make up of ultra running that I find appealing.
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