What's the purpose of it all?

The question was posed just as he was about to jump into the water, “What’s the purpose of it all?” My answer was, admittedly with little thought, “There is no purpose at all, and in fact, from an evolutionary perspective you’ve done your job.”

It’s a privilege to have known my friends for a very long time, and as I like to say, “Life is what we have in common” — I’m almost certain I didn’t come up with that but it is apt. Most of us were able to make it up to a friend’s family cottage (that was built in 1904) but not all; life gets in the way of the best laid plans of mice and men. The food was good and the conversation was better; cycling, hiking, novelty waffles for breakfast, boating into town, a fire, and shared memories of a lifetime. It made for a great time..

Recently I read that success is defined as some talent plus luck and great success is defined as some talent plus lots of luck — any way you want to define success, the people around me have leveraged their talents and their luck and done well by any measure. Each of us also carry the literal and figurative scars of a life lived; they are part of our actions, part of how we look at things, and part of the stories we tell around the campfire. It has all made for very rich lives.

The reason I am writing about this weekend at all is because I was dared to write something that involved discussions of our favourite fruit, novelty waffles for breakfast and the advantages of tubeless tires, but not use the word “pithy”. With that little challenge behind me, I will admit the question regarding “the purpose of it all” is still resonating — a question for the ages to be sure and something great thinkers have tried to answer. It was trite for me to answer the way I did but I never said I was much of a thinker, and after putting some more thought into it, I still it haven’t come up with anything else of substance. I wonder if it can truly be answered.

Until there is a better answer, I will continue to work on developing some talent, get out there to make as much luck as possible, and foster those relationships that make everything worthwhile — at the very least, it’s an honourable pursuit. Very much like “light and love”.

For my brothers.

iamgpe

A two year pandemic journal...

It is said, and thankfully I’ve only experienced this figuratively, when the shelling starts, try to get as small as you can.

Whispers of a new virus started in late 2019 and by April of 2020 many jurisdictions had implemented mandatory lockdown in an attempt to control the spread; by August 2021, vaccines were being rolled out and by April 2022 many jurisdictions were opening back up with the promise of picking up where we had left off.

During the time of Covid, my mantra was to get as healthy as I could, don’t get sick and don’t make anyone else sick — I maintained a very small bubble and in effect became as small as possible.

The gym fitness journal I started just before the pandemic offers insights into my progress and the interruptions due to the lockdowns — it is a journal by proxy of what I did for two years. There is an 18-month gap in the journal as a result of the lockdown and the gym was substituted with running the stairs at the Wallace St bridge. My life became very simple. Work; Run stairs; Saturday Zoom call; Check in on my 90-year old father. REPEAT.

My journal became active again after two jabs in my arm and changes to policy — the journal illustrates and notes my progress, injury, more progress, and smaller lockdowns. Stair running started to shift to more walking and hiking which found its way into the journal. The virus itself had also come a long way since the wild type of late 2019 and the Omicron variant has made everything comparatively easier. I am almost at the end of my current journal — dog eared and worn; it has been a great companion.

The last two years have made me physically healthy to be sure — I didn’t put on 114 pounds, I didn’t lose most of my hair, or break a couple of teeth eating ribs, or accidentally stab myself in the cheek when I got overly excited about eating pie. The pandemic is behind me, and I am back to getting out and about, but lately I’ve noticed I’m dealing with things as if I am still trying to be small; two years of instilled habits are hard to break. The time to be small is over and there are things to deal with, opportunities to take advantage of, and a grand life to live. More than ever, this is a time to get big and bold.

Considering what we have on the horizon, big and bold are exactly what we need.

I have my new workout journal picked out and the first thing I will write in it is “Aus der Kriegsschule des Lebens.— Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker,”*

iamgpe

* “Out of life’s school of war—what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” — Nietzsche

Happy Birthday to me...

Upfront I’d like to say that if you insist on getting me a gift I am truly grateful but you should make a donation to your local food bank instead.

For those who struggle with my age, it’s somewhere between thirty-seven and eighty-four — if you want something more exact it’s probably easier to just pick a number and move on (it’s only just a number). I will admit it’s always nice to receive birthday wishes but I really like this day because it offers a natural moment to reflect. Now that I’ve turned somewhere between thirty-seven and eighty-four, it would make sense to reflect on a life lived (so far). Maybe it’s because I believe I’m at an age that I’ve achieved some semblance of wisdom and wanted to share, or maybe, just maybe, this is a poorly veiled attempt to get some birthday wishes and a donation or two.

Reflections so far:

• There are few greater emotions than a parent’s love for a child — I love you very much sweetie.

• Look after your health. Just assume you aren’t as healthy as you think and step up your game. Health is all about the long game — healthy today is also healthy tomorrow; not so healthy today, is definitely unhealthy tomorrow.

• Protect, cherish and work at your relationships. They are only as good as the effort you put into them — it’s best to surround yourself with diverse, smart, caring and interesting people, and get to know them.

• Leadership is defined when times are difficult: with vision, decision making, and ownership. This applies to character for that matter.

• Be curious and never stop learning — new and different is always better than old and the same. Listen to people, particularly when you don’t agree with what they say. The moment you stop listening and learning is the first step to becoming irrelevant. And irrelevant is a very lonely place to be.

• Nothing is accomplished unless you do something — and the moment you do something is when you will be judged. Experience has shown that many times those who judge don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about (so keep that in mind). Choose your influencers well, because ironically, you need constructive feedback to progress and grow.

And one final thought — Memento mori. One of my trusted influencers reminded me of this the other day when he said, “Don’t waste what little time you have left on things like that.”

It was very good advice. Happy Birthday to me

iamgpe

PS: Yup, I’m a Capricorn