I often used to think that Life was a Marathon. And that all my Sprints were the wrong way
I was proven wrong.
One of the best Wellness courses I have ever attended recently confirmed to me that the most successful way to run life is through high performance, recovery, high performance, recovery. And not the traditional road of sustained mediocracy that leaves us both breathless an unsatisfied.
I always thought that I must be getting it wrong, as so few people I am surrounded by actually do life this way. The marathon was seems to be much more popular.
Sprints have always come naturally to me, and since being married and having kids to me both and my family.
We have also been really good in general at recovery time, but need to tweak this a bit more to ensure our recovery time is meeting all members of the family needs and not just mine! Talking, chatting, sleeping by the fire or on a boat, is my way of recovering but may need to throw in a bit of gardening, golf, and fixing TV if I really want to master this (and stay married)!
We run our life very often in terms of seasons. Spring and Fall are CRAZY. All we seem to do is work, both at home and at work itself. Preparing the houses for summer, getting skis and skates organized for the Winter, the lists go on and on and on. Weekends don’t provide a lot of recovery time in these two seasons but we try to get in some time in the evenings. We also end up seeing a lot of our friends at this time as we are not at the cottage as often.
But Summer and Winter are our times. We sprint like crazy during the week, but try to seriously recover as much as possible on the weekends and enjoy. The snow, the lake. All the beauty around us in nature. We try to book a lot less in these seasons on the weekend and recover from the full weeks we have. We protect our time like crazy at the expense of many things.
If I look at the last 16 yrs. of my life since I have been married, I can predict pretty precisely our sprints and recovery as they generally happen around the same time of year every year. I think we have taken the same week of vacations for years and years and years! Had pool parties the same weeks. Did our Spring Cleaning on the same weekend. Kids birthday parties and cookie bakes all pretty predictable. We know which nights we work late in general and which nights we are at home in general. Of course exceptions come up-but we most go according to schedule a good part of the time.
Boring??? Maybe for some? Lack of spontaneity-I think so for certain. Does it work for us? Absolutely yes!
Our schedules and planning have provided massive comfort in our lives solely because it all leads to more leisure time, getting important things done and making time for the most important activities and people in our lives on a consistent basis.
We are often stressed and exhausted, but then we get a recovery break and fuel our bodies, souls hould and minds before we go back to the stress again. That is the difference. If you don’t see us or hang out with us during these recovery times you might think our lives are a bit messed up because of how busy we are. But if you hang out with us at the lake, you would see just how capable of pure relaxation we truly are. The planning and the schedules and the organizing, all of those moments really get us all the rest too.
Get good marks in school=better career and more financially comfortable lifestyle later on
Save $ to RRSP or Savings-less stress if something unpredictable occurs and not need to take on a second job\
Clears out the closets in Spring-more time to relax with friends in summer
Focus on important projects and big deadlines in colder weather-margaritas by the pool in warmer weather
Blackberry madness in the airports on the way home, more relaxing day at work upon return
Kids do extensive chores=less work for us to do
Spend time with kids doing list as schedules during weekend=weekdays much smoother and less chaos.
So I have decided that I will never be able to run a marathon-nor will my life ever resemble that. I am quite satisfied with my sprints; I actually rather like them.
I am glad my Hubby and my kids seem to be right there with me on our 5km runs through life. Hard to prepare for, difficult to sustain and plan for, out of breath during, but a whole lot less tiring than a constant marathon. Get it over with,,,,relax and then sign up for another one at a later date. Often.
Ask us what we did on a weekend? We will always remember, and always be able to tell you.
Simply because after sprints-weekends really matter. In every way possible. I asked my husband in Italy..”Do you live your life vacation to vacation?”
He said: “No-I live life weekend to weekend.”
That made me really, really happy.
