E-Challenge Part II

OK - I'm sure you are sick of my entrepreneurial pep talk but I have one last thing to say on the subject for a while - and it's a bit cheesy so hold on to your lunches.

So here's the scenario.  This morning I get up to go for my morning row.  It is about the only form of exercise I can actually endure for more than 10 minutes.  I started rowing about 8 years ago.  It took me about 3 years to fall in love with it (mainly because it is really hard to get the hang of), and after that I was hooked.  Anyway, I'm late - as usual - and I've misplaced my keys (which I JUST had in my hands). So after five minutes of frantic searching, I find the second set and get going.  Incidentally, when I got home after the row and invested another five minutes of searching throughout the house, I found them in the garbage bag in the garage.  I guess I threw them out with the gum I picked off the floor of the garage.  I wish I was making this stuff up but it is, unfortunately, my world.  The gum that fell, just to add to the frustration, was the last one in the pack, which meant I had to go back in the house to get a new pack.  SO - I'm frustrated, late, it's early in the morning, and I have a super busy day ahead of me.  I AM GRUMPY!

I get to to club and get to row my absolute favourite boat - the single.  There is no hiding with this boat.  You have nothing to rely on but your own ability to stay afloat,and only have your power to get it moving.  The challenge is that the boat is thinner than your butt (and given that I haven't been rowing for 2 years, the difference has significantly grown).  So you CANNOT SCREW UP or you will be swimming.  So I'm happy, I get my boat.  I get out on the water and discover that the water is choppy.  Now for those non-rowers, this means that every time I take a stroke, the boat pitches (keeping in mind my butt is hanging OVER the sides). It is super frustrating because you feel like any minute you will fall in.  You can't get momentum. Your blades (or oars) bang against your fingers. Generally not pleasant.  So I'm already grumpy, now I'm struggling to get exercise and thinking about turning around.  But since I'm already here I may as well get some exercise.  To my absolute delight, when I reach the bend in the river, the water is glass smooth.  (Can you see where this story is going?)

Glass smooth water is the rower's equivalent to Easter for chocolate lovers (if you are into the whole easter bunny thing).  This is nirvana baby!  You can put the power on without fear of tipping, the boat cuts through the water. You feel like a SUPERSTAR!  I start to get into a groove.  Then it dawns on me to take a look at where I'm going.  Again, for the no-rowers, in rowing you always have your back to the direction you are headed.  You get a great view of where you have been, but need to take the time to look at your direction and the hazards coming up.  When you get into the groove, you sometimes forget to look.  That happened to one group and they ended up running into a motorboat anchored in the river.  How oblivious do you have to be to run into a boat?  And that's when I had my Forrest Gump "life is like a box of chocolates" moment.  Here comes the cheese.  Here's my "business is like rowing" moment (and I'll be brief):

• There will be rough water.  If you persevere, you will hit better water. In the meantime, you refine your skills, become stronger and become a better rower.
• When you hit smooth water, enjoy it, but don't forget to stay focused.  It doesn't take long before you get off course or hit a MAJOR obstacle OR BOTH.
• If you don't hit better water or you shouldn't be out there in the first place, get the hell off the water.  There will be other times and it is not worth risking your well-being.
• Set a goal. It makes it easier to hang in there, especially when the goal is in sight.  (for me it was a bridge and about 30 more strokes)
• If you stop (especially in a current) you will lose ground. But sometimes you have to stop - whether it is to take a good look for obstacles, or because you are tired.  That's fine.  Regenerate.  But get back on course before you lose too much ground otherwise you begin to question the sanity of your goals.
• And last but not least, if your butt doesn't fit in the boat - that's OK. At least you are in the boat and not sitting on the sidelines with a donut watching the boat. 

So there you have it for my cheddar moment of the day.  I was honestly thinking about this while I was rowing. There are only so many times that you can admire ducks so you have to do something for that hour.

I will leave you with a couple of my favourite posters from the website Despair.  By far, the funniest stuff I have seen in a long time.  I like them because they don't take life too seriously (and they make fun of the rowing "Teamwork" poster)  Enjoy.

And if you have made  it this far, tell us what you want to know about.  We need some topics. I am still looking into prostates, but I'm sure you have things you want to know.  Tell us!  We need to know. 

Again, my apologies for the copyright issues. I can only hope the extra website traffic will make up for it.

   

Comments

[s.patel]

loved reading that!

topic idea...
with the heat as it has been lately---tips for keeping our fur-friends cool?

[supra shoes]

Wherever Everyone has the life,But not everyone understand life, cherish life. Don't understand life people, The life to him, it is a kind of punishment. So we must love our life.

[ドレス]

近年、生活水準の継続的な改善と、人々の欲望が社会活動に参加しても、ドレスは、より多くの人々は、特殊な状況で使用されているされており、増加しており、過去からリースに着用者のいくつかの購入またはコレクションを表します。一方、過去の市場に比べウエディングドレス販売台数が大幅に増加している。しかし、業界カラードレス格安、製品の品質問題の急速な発展は、非標準の市場はますます顕著になってくる。