You Adapt and Grow

Fetch Dino.

The whole theory of adaptation has me moving towards uncharted waters.  Which, pardon the minor play on words, is exactly the point. Yesterday during our fifth Wednesday of super high intensity intervals (I am tempted to pun again with the acronym), I reminded the group that at its most basic, exercise physiology  asks of the participant to change over time, to adapt to the ever increasing, changing work loads. This process goes by many names, training, conditioning, practicing, among the most common gerunds, but all share the common biological fact that the more we do something the better we get at it. Stress plus rest equals growth. We adapt to the new requirement. No matter how far the ball is flung, we run and fetch.

Sometimes this takes a while. Patience is part of the process. As is resilience, discipline, consistency, dedication and a sense of gratitude. We are, or should, feel lucky that we have the opportunity to engage with the universal energies that propel our consciousness forward. We KNOW what we must do, that is the knowledge we understand to be the starting point. But it is not until we DO what we know that we transform that knowledge into something even more powerful, the wisdom that only comes from direct empirical experience of walking the walk. We gotta do what we know must be done. 

I am not saying this is easy. It may be the most difficult challenge we will ever face on the proving grounds of this lifetime. I, as example, spend a lot to time working with the way that I use words and the context in which they are framed, in order to ignite as many inspirational photons as are ready for action. Almost ready. With apologies to Woody Allen, I see them as sitting around playing cards in a long sterile tube, frustrated and asking only a call to action. That is their ONE JOB, to fire the engine of action. It starts in the brain with a spark, maybe a challenge, or maybe a warning from the family primary care physician, that something needs to change. WHAT WORDS WILL PROVIDE THAT SPARK? Interestingly, many times the words are not the instigator at all, it is something we ‘catch’ from watching others leading by example. The words become a tool to frame the motivation caught from the powerful positive overflow of energy from another. Mostly this is caught and not taught. 

Melded together, the ‘catching’ of inspiration and the understanding of its primary principles put us in the game. We take the first step towards adaptation. We wave bye-bye to the people, places and things that have all unwittingly conspired to keep us from the achievement of our goals. You instinctively know who that are, where they hang and what they do. 

If we are to move courageously in the direction of the vision of our greatest value, we must get comfortable with doing the hard stuff. We must take that brutally honest assessment of our current status and script the poetic path to progress. 

I will be blunt in addressing the three faces of the axis of anti-adaptation, of sloth, the stagnation of growth and the insidious ways that our capitalist society wants you to dummy yourself down. Ready?

You must find your way through the mine-field of mind-numbing marketing and establish good eating habits. The fact that one of the worst things one can ingest also happens to be the cheapest, is a paradox not lost upon the people profiting from it. 

One must structure a regular schedule of exercise. One must move one’s bones. Often. With intensity and with an elevated heart rate. Don’t we know this? Why then the opposition? 

Third and perhaps the most important, is the broad category we call stress management. Consider all that this entails: Entertainment, yoga, alcohol and tobacco, comfort foods, meditation, sports, pharmaceuticals, music, running marathons, cell phones, and for good measure indoor cycling. We must manage our stress’ in safe, positive and non-toxic ways if we are to survive. 

In other words, we must change or be doomed like the dinosaurs. 

For the sake of clarity, following are the Cliff notes. Because I know that the first thing you asked was something like this: Oh really? And how am I supposed to eat good, exercise daily and manage my otherworldly stress’ with MY schedule, current situation and MY boat-load of responsibilities? 

You start. And keep going. And be aware of the process. And practice. Every day. 

You adapt and grow. Fetch Dino.