Thanks for joining me for another edition of the serenity through sweat blog. My wife and I are wrapping up our first weekend with El Duderino out of town and just Speedy in the house. I’m struck by the difference two years has made in our parenting and our personalities.
As a new father, even with a significant break from work, I struggled to find a rhythm. I was unsure of myself and the needs of my wife and new baby. I was behind the curve when it came to meeting those needs much less anticipating and proactively fulfilling them.
Two years later, with El Duderino visiting his grandparents for the weekend, was the first time for me to really compare apples to apples as it were. How would my wife and I handle our now 4 month old having already been through it once?
The difference was staggering. We were both amazed at the efficiency at which we could care for Speedy and complete tasks around the house. We were both able to anticipate each other’s as well as Speedy’s needs, and then fulfill them quickly, efficiently, and with a a general sense of normalcy.
Things that would have left us frustrated and exhausted two years ago, seemed like commonplace daily routine, and even a reprieve, when compared to the demands of two children. The repetitive tasks that are required to care for a child led to a change in both my wife and I. The difference is the beauty of human adaptation.
As is often the case taxonomy is important and adaptation (in a biological sense) is an organisms ability to change to become better suited to it’s environment.
My wife and I are not the same people we were two and a half years ago when El Duderino was born. In addition to a familiarity and gained confidence as parents, we adapted to be better suited to our new lives as parents.
Raising children clearly involves a lot repetitive tasks. With repetition comes habit formation, and with habit formation comes adaptation. A good training plan will force you to do the same thing. Your body will adapt to the stresses (running, biking, lifting heavy things, grappling) you put it through if it senses that they are an environmental factor, and not just a singular event. Repetitive stresses will lead to adaptation, and a better suited person for the whatever challenge lies ahead.
We are starting to see this now with COVID as well. There have been repetitive stresses on businesses, services, and events. Some of those organizations have maintained their routine in a “tough it out” approach, and some have adapted. Like a fun uncle who watches the kids now and again, they can get the job done when they need to, but their efficiency and effectiveness will be lacking. The parents who change to better fit their new roles, will ultimately do a better job and be more efficient and effective. It doesn’t take long to see which organizations are adapting, and which are struggling to tough it out.
Humans have adapted to survive and thrive in every environment they have come across. It requires some trial and error, some repetitive stress, and a whole lot of serenity, but the results are pretty incredible.
When you can’t change your situation, you change yourself. That’s what adaptation is. It’s just a fun coincidence that parenting, fitness, getting through COVID, and finding serenity all require adaptation too.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
