The Meaning Of Life, Snowballs, Business, And Endurance Training

Hi folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Photo by FitOldDog, taken in early March as he heads out for an early morning walk with the dogs.

You’ve got to love the spring, as life renews itself and so do we, as we are life.

As I headed out with the dogs for an early morning walk I noticed that the crocuses were up. What a treat! This kind of thing always used to make me wonder about the meaning of life. Why do they come up every year? Why do people do things? Why? Finally it dawned on me. The meaning of life is life itself. The adventure and experience, the ups and the downs, the feeling good days and the having flu days (yep, my flu has finally abated, after almost two weeks – what a treat to awake feeling OK!). Life is about struggling to make things happen, and enjoying them when they do. It’s a bit like making one of those gigantic snowballs, which we loved to do as kids on a snowy day in England. We’d make snowballs that were taller than we were, with the help of patience, determination, and the assistance of gravity in the final stages.

For Willbe the meaning of life is play, food, sleep, and other dogs, and he loves to play with Scooter’s teddy bear, especially if Scooter wants it. Photo by FitOldDog.

You start with a chunk of snow in your hand. Mold it into a ball and roll it in the snow, and pack the snow that sticks with your hands. Once it reaches about a foot in diameter you just roll it, this way and that to make a ball, as opposed to a cylinder, and slowly it grows. Two feet around, three feet, and you head for the hill and let it go, with some gentle nudging along the way. Sometimes they go too fast, or crash into rocks, and break up, but if all goes well, at the bottom of the slope you have a snowball that is as much as four or five feet around. Then you make a smaller one and put it on top. Few twigs, couple of dark stones, a carrot, and you’ve got the biggest snowman in the neighborhood. Way to go! I’m finding that building your own business is just like this! First you grab some snow, which in this case is an idea, and then you mold it, roll it along, and if you’re lucky gravity will eventually take over! But you have to remember, as you go along, the wisdom of Lao-tzu, so beware, don’t lose your way or that snowball will break up or worse, roll over you!

“Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is a dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it,
you position is shaky.
When you stand with your two feet on the ground,
you will always keep your balance.

What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear?
Hope and fear are both phantoms
that arise from thinking of the self.
When we don’t see the self as self,
what do we have to fear?

See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
then you can care for all things.”

Click on image to visit FitOldDog’s video store – a tiny little snowball, but it’s our snowball.

Which brings us to endurance sports. You train, build your mind and body until a 3-mile swim, a 100-mile bike ride, or a 20-mile run feel almost effortless. In fact, if you’re lucky you will feel the athlete’s high. It’s rare, but well worth the work. I’ve never experienced it in the water, as I tend to drift off into reverie after a couple of miles – maybe this is the swimmer’s high? On the bike you’re cruising along and suddenly you notice that your legs are spinning all on their own. It’s true! It’s like the bike has an engine and it is nothing to do with you – how odd. Runners high is like floating on air, which I have experienced once in my life, about 20 miles into a run.

If you experience the runners high – STOP – you’ll hurt yourself. Your mind is tricking you into thinking you’re Superman or Wonderwoman!

-k @FitOldDog