This rhetorical application referenced indoor cycling as we would climb impossible grades with breakneck cadence. The oxygen gets a little thin up there.
The point being that the test is in the response, or what happens next.
If you are cooked, gassed and spent at the top of one climb, yet there remains ten more or equal or greater slope, well, you have work to do.
If you wish to improve (one BIG if) the consistent effort you put forth towards the achievement of that goal will soon answer the question. The question being, of course, how much gas remains in my tank after a single hard effort.
I was reminded of this theory yesterday as I received some 'interesting' news. Not bad news, nowhere near catastrophic and not much more than gossip actually, but it affected me, at first dramatically.
As the morning progressed and I began to consider the complexity and other viewpoints of the situation, a similarity of pattern surfaced. Instead of my usual knee-jerk 'oh yeah?' response and administering an all-or-nothing tactic, I carefully considered the fallout, the effect, the ramification of what I was being asked to do.
I gave it the entire day for consideration. I tried to wear the moccasins of the others. and perhaps most importantly, I attempted to remove myself from the equation and inspect with text book objectivity.
This is just one hill, I self consoled, there are many to follow. If you give up, react with violence, make a show of anger or constrict, you have answered the question.
Because nothing good, positive or enriching will follow that choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment