Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. We all know the saying “idle hands are the devil’s playthings” and I think that takes on a new meaning under the lense of what we are dealing with now as a nation.
I’ve always been someone who struggles to find calm in stillness. My serenity, as it were, has always come through sweat. Whether it is physical exercise, a complex problem that needs to be worked out, or just projects around the house, my mood is always improved when I am in motion and feel like I have accomplished something that day.
For the last three months prior to my return to work, I was very fortunate to spend quality time home with my wife and two sons. That said, I think every parent can empathize with the feeling of being busy all day with basic family needs, but not “getting anything done”. I think this is especially true for people who tend to be very task/mission oriented. (Read pilots)
So, on my last overnight visiting my Father on his farm in PA, I was delighted to feel like I could do a normal days work, and complete some of those tasks in order to satiate that mission oriented personal drive.
Humans are designed to move, designed to solve problems, and build and create. When we these don’t occur naturally as part of our existence, we artificially manufacturer them. How many problems has stay-at-home created over the past few months that are really just manufactured problems of circumstance, rather than true issues.
I should be clear this is not a post about political protest. Protest in general is a noble and important mission and as a mission oriented person, that is a path I respect. I’m referring to the astounding numbers of people who went from moving from task to task with some general purpose (normally providing for themselves and/or their family and contributing to society) to being forced to stay at home, idle.
It may take a while before we start seeing the full effects of all those idle hands, but that will be a significant factor as we continue to analyze the effects of both Covid-19, as well as the unintended consequences of the combative measures taken against it.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
This week’s SerenityThroughSweat, working on the farm with my dad, finding fitness in hotel rooms with gyms closed, and some sweaty miles over the causeway in midday Sarasota.