I had a fairly productive week. I’m doing well with my daily habits: meditating morning and afternoon, reading in the morning, getting a walk in. I’ve also added some stretching after the walks while the muscles are warm and loose.
I’m drilling my two counting games every day and doing some VuGraph practice and playing some robot games. Greg and I are keeping up with our Cuebids practice pretty well. I’m also starting to practice with a new partner for the NAP next weekend.
I’ve been to the gym four times now: twice to the weekly “kettlebell basics” class, which is a prerequisite for some of the more advanced classes, and twice to the daily “Foundations” class designed for newbies. Anyone in a modicum of physical shape would probably consider these classes laughably easy, but for me they were excruciating. I soaked in an Epsom salt bath after each and plastered myself in CBD ointment. I’ve have had two massages since I started at the gym.
OK, I’m kind of a baby. I admit that readily. But I’m upright and ambulatory, and every recovery has been a little easier than the previous one. So maybe things are trending in the right direction.
The big takeaway for me has been that I do not like working hard and pushing myself. I do a push-up or two and am sore and winded. That in and of itself is kind of embarrassing, but we all start from our baseline and what’s important is moving forward. But the discouraging thing for me is that my instinct at that point is to stop. At least take a break. There’s no pushing through or testing my limits; I’m perfectly happy to hit my limit and give up.
I can see that attitude in my bridge as well. I don’t like working hard on a problem; I’ll get to wherever I’m comfortable and then stop and make a decision. I count out the hands when I need to, but I’m lazy about doing it on every hand. Even with this Leveling Up project, I’m working harder on my game than I ever have in the past, but if I’m honest with myself, I could do a lot more.
So I’m going to make some commitments.
I’m going to keep doing my three days a week at the gym, and try to give it my all and not let myself quit.
I’m going to commit to playing 12 boards against the robots and looking at one 15-board set on VuGraph every day. That seems very doable. Life happens, so I give myself permission to miss a day and make it up the next day every now and then.
Greg and I are making some specific commitments, too. We’re going to do the daily and weekly challenges on Cuebids, in addition to our regular practice.
What specific commitments are you ready to make between now and the Fall NABC in San Francisco? Whether they’re for bridge or for life, I encourage you to pick a couple of things you’d like to turn into habits and see if you can do it.
Have a great week!
Thanks Adam, your honesty is so helpful to us and to you. Moderation is important. Counting just when necessary sounds smart to me. For exercise, a level that you can enjoy is a level that you can continue. Whether or not you ever become a Grand Life Master, your struggles certify your qualification to help the rest of us struggling to level up. That may be your niche in life.