Perpetual motion

I truly believe that as human beings, we are designed for relentless forward progress.  Continual, functional movement.  However, somewhere along the line we have lost sight of this and become stagnate, lazy, unmotivated and disconnected from our basic homo-sapien purpose.  I am doing my best to re-claim what is mine and really, if I am honest, has been from my youth.  As long as my memory serves me I have been in a constant state of motion; always wanting to play, run, do sport and actively pursuing what my monkey mind conjures up.  Perpetual motion.  Flowing, moving and productive.

What does this look like though?  Its not complicated.  Garden, stand at work rather than sit, walk rather than drive somewhere nearby, go for a walk with a friend, swim, keep your mind and body busy, avoid TV and other creature comforts that take us away from activity and make life ‘easier’.  My friends know of my distain for a lot of products/appliances humans have created to make life easier.  They may well have made life ‘easier’, but they have also removed a lot of our purpose and hardness mentally by our not manually performing tasks often produce.  

In saying this, I do believe there is time and space for rest, relaxation and sitting down watching a good movie.  This should be a treat though, almost reward for a job well done throughout the day or week, not something we divulge in on a daily basis.

Now, outside aiming to live a life with this vision, I partake in endurance sports.  I am not here to tell you that training 15-20+hrs a week is healthy or necessary.  However, for me, I yearn for it.  I strive for more, seek it out and always looking at how I can do more.  Is more better?  Probably not.  Does it make me happy and provide a level of substance to my existence that staying still doesn't, yes.  It is not negotiable.  It's the lifestyle I have created for myself and I wouldn't have it any other way.  At times it is tiring and I will admit that sometimes I just want to sleep.  But, when I move beyond this, get out the door and in that perpetual motion, all seems right with the world and my balance is restored.  And trust me, when I do sleep, it is blissful.

This is my life’s work.  To squeeze every ounce out of it that I can.  Balance is another conversation, however I believe I have found my balance with family, training, work and life’s jobs in general.  This may look obscure to outsiders and that's ok.  It has served me and my people well for a long time now.  My wife is incredibly supportive of what I do and knows I need it to stay sane.  I train at ridiculous hours to reduce the impact on my family.  I like being busy.  There hasn't been a truer statement.  Give and take is important and something we have generally done well.

So, where does this all leave you?  How is your motion?  Are you working at living?  It takes effort.  It won’t come to you sitting on your ass watching reality TV that I can tell you.  So, I challenge you.  This week, walk around your yard each afternoon.  Pull some weeds out, watch the birds, swim in the ocean, climb a mountain.  Do something small outside your comfort zone that forces you to be just a little active.  You never know, you might just enjoy it……much love friends, keep that motion moving forward.