Falling in love

How does it happen, I wonder? Why do some people (or places) do it for us when others don’t? At what point does infatuation turn into love? Why does some love just get better and deeper with time like good wine or cheese, and in some cases familiarity breeds contempt? Why do some people grow together over time and some people grow apart?

Circumstances in a complex system. That’s the very definition of chaos theory. It’s also what keeps life interesting. Think of it, if we knew the future how dreadfully boring would life be? But when the magic happens, it happens hey …

I also think of how everything is transitory. ‘This too shall pass’ goes through my mind as Dr Lan pokes and prods (honestly, it’s not the needles that usually hurts the worst, it’s all the poking into damaged tissue so he can figure out where to put the needles!).

Wednesday of this week was one of those absolutely stunning, glorious days, where you love life. The sun shines, the birds sing, and even your problems seem largely manageable. I had just spent the day between the office, a site visit to Philippi & Khayelitsha, a fantastic lunch at Superette, a long but effective team meeting, and was on my way to pick up my organic veggies from Wild (I now have enough broccoli to feed an army, or at least me for a few days), before heading on to CrossFit. I was looking at everything around me: the cars, the colour of light on the buildings, the store fronts themselves, and my heart was just swelling with love.

It *is* true. I do love it here. I love South Africa. All of it. The crazy shacklands. The sun. The wind. The music. The goats in the road in Philippi. I was having a moment where I wished that everyone I care about who has never been to South Africa could just spend a day in my shoes and see what I see, smell what I smell, feel what I feel. It would be so cool if we could pass on experience that way, no?

Every day, and I mean every day, I see something that just makes me shake my head in wonder or amazement or amusement. This morning it was a sign above a dug up sidewalk directing pedestrians to use the opposite sidewalk …. Which was also dug up and unusable. This is what keeps you on your toes, keeps you feeling alive – that vibrancy. Even today when I’ve had less than six hours of sleep for the first time in a loooong time and I’m tired, I can notice the postcard setup that Camps Bay decided to provide me with this morning. I suppose you have to stop and take time to smell the roses.

Yes, there are the days I wish I could be in Paris. Or joining Mike on his tour of NFL stadiums next fall. Or watching the Boston Marathon. But hey, choices build character.  

Speaking of choices, and character, as I alluded in my last post I am busy resting now. I did train yesterday with the team (and threw in the Advanced class ahead of time … I mean if it’s not a rest day may as well go all out, right?, which was quite cool because I carefully tested my elbow a bit and it seemed ok), but had 4 days of rest before that, and I now am on day 1 of another 4 day rest period. I needed a complete 5 days and unfortunately between injury and general burnout/overtraining, I didn’t count the first 3 days of rest towards those 5 days. So this is the longest rest period I think I have had, outside of extreme injury. Like qigong where it’s harder to hold positions without strain than just to muscle your way through, it’s way harder for athletes to rest than to just keep on pushing through.

But hey, training when you should be resting is actually immaturity or mental weakness (or both). I know a lot of people who have been telling me recently that they don’t like to take even one rest day because they get antsy or feel guilty or like they should be doing more. Happily, I’m past that and I need my 2 rest days a week … they aren’t rest days, they are recovery days. But as I’ve said I’m as mentally weak as the next guy in terms of when the plan is to train but I’m not feeling it, and training anyway. I was proud of myself for fighting back the frustration that my body needed rest on Monday when I really wanted to train with the team. There is no workout pain worse than the pain of watching other people train and wanting to be in the mix with them.

So, I continue to rest. Not to mention that the GHD situps last Friday wrecked me to the point where I could barely do strict pullups and my toes to bar were about 30% slower than usual …. After four days of rest. So guess what, I need it. How funny though – I never quite realized the extent to which you use your midsection to do a strict pullup until all of a sudden I try and do one and realize that I am sore and weak, and can barely do it! GHD situps …. Insidious devils.

Speaking of love, I am also definitely falling in love with the qigong. It’s sort of like mental crack for me, even as frustrating as it can be at times.

And in other news, I am most likely moving to New Hampshire come July. No April Fools here, just a desire not to be taxed without representation, and my vote doesn’t count for sh*t in Massachusetts, which is why I haven’t even bothered to sign up for an absentee ballot. But to ‘live’ in a swing state!

One of my friends posted an interesting Tweet the other day:

The social-issue rhetoric of the US presidential campaigns is about abortion,contraception,same-sex marriage. Aren't these personal choices?

Why, yes. In countries where such things are protected by the constitution or the rule of law. And that, folks, is what we call irony.

Just got that awesome feeling when you teach someone something and they get it. Man I love some of my interns. :D

• “You should be happy.” “I am happy!” “You don’t sound happy. You sound scared.” “I am scared!” – Ellie & Tammy
• “Can I be a girl in this workout?” – Andrew
• “Training without nagging injuries is great. You should try it.” – Rika
• “I could just bathe in …. Oh, hello?” – Jon
• “It’s the thesis statement for the business.” – Amy
• “I’m not sure it counts as a bank account anymore.” – Jeff
• “If you breathe into your chest, it traps the chi.” – Kim (see, I never knew that! Explains a lot!)
•  “White people protesting for jobs.” – Keith (in response to what was the most unrealistic part of Safe House, which was set in Cape Town)
• “Are you going to mind if I buy all of your coconut oil?” – Ellie (it was quite a good sale)
• “What, go home and cry and then go to CrossFit?” – Ellie (you know, if I wasn’t in this cult I swear to God I wouldn’t understand the behaviour of the people in it…!)