Comfort
Earn your privilege and wash it down with gratitude.
The Cultured Warrior #062 | Earn your privilege and wash it down with gratitude.
Time and space are fickle things. Â Lately I've been more intentional about my physical activity. Â Not a lot of people would describe me as lazy, yet "comfort creep" is real. Â I have to admit, chucking my dog's ball from a lawn chair in the morning sun is pretty damn nice.
My best competition performances came when I was working 60-80 hours / week, strength training a few minutes each morning, getting minimal time on the mat, and trusting that I had already put in the (technical) hours to "trust the process." Â I don't recommend that, but we can talk about "building foundations" elsewhere.
Let's take a trip down memory lane, circa 2017.
"What do you do on the day you can't muster the anger to put up your fists? What happens when you want to snap your fingers to a tune that used to make you want to smash your head? What are you going to do when you run out of thirst? When there is so much water that you can't muster the need? When you have something to lose you don't roll the dice and you quit picking fights. When that time comes will you fold the hand? Will you take the easy way out and settle for a life which you just get by? Or will you stay defiant and bet on the new reinvented you?"
~ Mark Twight, Burn or Fizzle, 2013
At the place / time of the above picture I was headed to the climbing gym and paused to reflect on the "comfort" of sharing a rental home with strangers after a year or so of living in my truck.
In 2020 I bought my first house and as part of a challenge at the time I was publicly posting my daily gratitude journal. Â A few careful eyes noted recurring entries like:
food,
a bed, and
running water.
Did they get you to trade your your heroes for ghosts? Â
Hot ashes for trees? Â Hot air for a cool breeze? Â
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a a cage? Â
~ Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
The 5 years since the photo above isn't that long of a time, but it's enough to change a person – some say enough to "completely reinvent yourself." Â
Calendars and to-do lists are bullshit; at least for the things you need to do. Â Obscure reminders? Â Check. Â Need to physically be somewhere? Â Check. Â Use the tools.
Sometimes I tell clients:
"Your (morning) routine stops when you start needing reminders and lists to do something; that's when the chores begin."
In other words, burn... relentlessly. Â It's amazing what we can become (or succumb) to being comfortable with. Â Earn your privilege and wash it down with gratitude. Â Decide to be someone you're proud of and set that f*er off.
Odds & Ends:
All newsletter posts are now public (some were previously member-only)
General tools / training plans are now in a subscriber-only section (still free).
The war against meat rages on: How The Attacks on Farming and Bitcoin are Connected.
I also recently finished Tim Kennedy's newest book (Scars and Stripes); which is exactly the mis-adventurous thrill ride you'd imagine.
