This That and The Other Thing:
Navigating
Life’s Annoyances
Reflecting on training, I’ve realized that the actual workouts are the easy part. It’s dealing with the minor challenges of life which cause the most stress and anxiety. Those seemingly insignificant annoyances—spam emails, slow internet, autocorrect gibberish—accumulate and seem to have oversized impacts on our mood.
I’m sure we can all think of ten irritating things
off the top of our heads. Now, let’s add another annoyance to the list. Picture
this: It’s that time of year when you need three sets of clothes for a
day—morning chill, hammering in the afternoon, and a cooler ride home. This late
summer fashion show gets old fast, but I’m always prepared. Today I changed
into shorts and a shirt before launching my paddleboard. But here’s the twist:
My pandemic weight loss rendered certain shorts useless—they simply slid off.
You can guess where this is headed.
Enter the Red River
Paddle Challenge—a grueling long-distance race on the Red River of the North.
Forty-five kilometers from Saint Vital Park to Lockport, it’s an endurance
test. I’ve loaded two lumbar packs with race essentials: water bottles, energy
gels, gloves, and more. During the race, I’ll switch to the backup bag when the
first one runs low. Sounds straightforward, right? Not quite. Imagine standing
on a narrow race board, waves crashing, fatigue setting in after 3 hours of
intense effort. Swapping bags becomes a high-stakes circus act—like doing
backflips on a slackline after running a marathon.
Today’s goal?
Master the bag switch and nail the transition in three minutes. My lumbar packs
were loaded with essentials: water bottles, energy gels, gloves, and more. And
guess what? No falls! After some deft fiddling, I achieved the target time. I’ll
take that as a win!
But here’s the twist—I forgot to transfer the leash. The
leash, that essential rope that keeps me tethered to the board, preventing it
from drifting away in the current or wind. Luckily, I didn’t take an unexpected swim, or I might have lost the
whole kit and caboodle.
Now, the surprising part: As I reach down to unclip the
missing leash, I don’t find what I anticipated—a leash and a bag. Nope.
Instead, my board shorts are around my ankles! Imagine this: a bearded old guy
paddling upriver, gitch (that’s Canadian for underwear) on full display, as if
nothing’s amiss. Shocked? Embarrassed? Mortified? Nah. All I could do was roar
with laughter—a ‘naked’ paddle. Hilarious!
Sometimes, life serves up wardrobe malfunctions, and you
just have to roll with it!
Seriously, its
important to not take ourselves too seriously. A hyper focus on outcomes can hinder
our growth and development. It’s healthy to recognize and find some joy in our
own quirks, imperfections and just loosen up. Embracing those shortcomings
creates space for exploration, reflection and adaptation. I honestly believe
embracing our limitations is part of living authentically and allows us to find
joy in our journey.
There is something fundamental about focusing on
the process rather than getting lost in outcomes. Practically, emphasizing the
training and progressions gives you a certain degree of control and allows you
to adjust your attitude, learn from the unexpected and be flexible enough to
adapt as needed. Subsequently, a process-oriented approach to training keeps us
grounded in the here and now, rather then being fixated on future outcomes.
Being present reduces stress and anxiety and improves our emotional wellbeing
Lately I’ve been navigating an obstacle course of silly
annoyances just to get on the water. People
acting badly, broken equipment, flat tires, injuries, work, lack of sleep, and
river burnout are a few of the hurdles I’ve had to overcome. But you
know what? Sometimes those little annoyances are just part of the journey.
And there I was, with the sun shining, the river as smooth
as glass, and a touch of wind—almost like nature was saying, “Hey, Dave, keep
going!” Even if it felt like the world was conspiring against me, that warmth
and the joy of being on the water made it all worthwhile.
This paddle was my 89th
session of 2023, and I might be dealing with this that and the other thing, but I’m
still living my best life.
~Dave
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