I'm committed to my physical conditioning again. And it's a top priority now. I was previously doing a tiny bit of training each day. And though it was maintaining some of the muscle mass I have, my stamina just wasn't quite there.
Also, I had a chance meeting wtih a man named Jup Brown. I was just south of Big Sur on the California coast trying to give myself sticker shock at their little mini mart. And inside, I was standing next to a man considering the purchase of a coke. I didn't give him much notice, in fact I kind of thought he worked there.
Outside though, I couldn't help but be drawn to an outrageous bicycle with a trailer that had a bunch of toys on one mast and flags on another. Liz and I struck up a conversation with Jup and it turns out he's a real-life, flesh-and-blood, adventurer.
He started out from LA on 1/16/2015 and ran all the way to Boston by way of the southern US. Then a friend talked him into taking a bicycle ride all the way back. He decided to do it but first went to the eastern-most point of North America in Newfoundland and came back across Canada and down the Pacific Coast Highway.
I find myself feeling thoughtful in the aftermath of meeting someone who trusts life, and maps out really big things, and does them meeting and befriending tonnes of people in the process. I am still in a "definition" phase for myself, trying to decide what ambitious but short-range project would be meaningful to me. I know I want to have more personal work and more personal impact in my life. I don't know what form that will take but I now believe that if I start mapping it out, that I can make anything happen.
I'm starting with something familiar: committing to 90 days of P90X. This is to get myself again used to physical exertion, discomfort, and self-discipline. It seems so completely achievable after 2 months of life-after-Facebook and the inspiration of Jup's year-long adventure. But I intend to identify a dragon to slay, map out the path, and get to it.
Here's the question I am sitting with and I will leave it for you to ponder and answer for yourself. What in your life seems like the sort of thing your friends might talk you out of that you really think you ought to do? It doesn't have to be sensible, you don't have to know how to pay for it. You don't even necessarily have to understand what it's all about as long as your body seems to respond to it by gushing with possibility and energy.
Feel free to reach out to me and let me know. @francisluong