Skip to main content

Out of the Blocks


Years ago, I walked on to the University of Alaska Track and Field Team. I was athletic, but very raw and unpolished. While I very much enjoyed sprinting, my technique and form were lacking, and I had a lot of work ahead of me to get it up to par.

Especially in the early practices, I remember coaches working with me to eliminate unnecessary movement as I ran, particularly during the acceleration phase out of the blocks. My head and neck would bounce around, my arms had too much lateral motion which caused my hips to swivel and my torso to twist. Basically, there was a lot of extra motion in my running form that gobbled up precious energy and effort. As I began to eliminate the unnecessary and detrimental actions, more force and momentum was harnessed towards propelling me down the track and my times improved.

The same thing can happen as we travel down the path of life. We get hampered by busyness and aimless activity that saps our limited stores of energy and effort, slowing us down and wearing us out. While we may be putting forth a lot of exertion, it isn’t focused in the right areas and is getting us nowhere other than fatigued. Momentum and force that could be used to propel us forward is wasted on unnecessary movement that only holds us back.

There are a lot of hard-working people out there who aren’t getting where they want to be because they flail around in futile activities. Exertion and effort alone aren’t enough to propel you forward. You must harness focused intensity and eliminate unnecessary movement.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Flower Among Thorns

About six or seven years ago, my wife was around three months pregnant as we eagerly anticipated the birth of another child. One night, as I lay sleeping, I had a dream that our baby was born. It was a beautiful little girl with thin, wispy hair and large, bright eyes punctuating her beautiful face. I held her proudly in my arms and stared down at this precious little creation. I carefully handed her off to her older brother, who was just a toddler himself, as he sat on the coach, arms outstretched, anxiously awaiting the chance to hold his baby sister. I helped him prop up a pillow underneath his little arms to help support my daughter and then stepped back to take in the amazing sight as he gazed down at her with both pride and amazement in his eyes. As I stood there watching them, the dream quickly faded. When I woke up, my eyes met the tearful glance of my wife. “I’m bleeding,” she said as she fought back the emotions, “I think I am miscarrying.” Those words sunk deeply i...
1 comment
Read more