I don’t know why, but I was surprised to learn how many sportspeople compete while injured. I always thought I’m seeing them at their best. Like, Federer at his best takes on Nadal at his best. Or Usain Bolt wins the race while in peak physical fitness. Then I found out about how they’re NEVER at their best. There’s always some knee pain bothering them, or a midnight-commissioned-drug-test that ruined their gameday sleep, or a family spat brewing in the background.
I don’t know why this surprised me cuz it’s the same for all of us. I, for one, am constantly cycling through periods of high productivity and optimism followed by low productivity and pessimism. But work, life, and relationships don’t wait for the good part of that cycle. So, we wake up, judge how close (or far) to 100% we are, and then use whatever energy/drive is at hand. What we are at our best is irrelevant. The real questions are: How are we today? And what do we do with what we’ve got?
I b*tch about how unfair it is, regularly, but try and snap out of it with the following thought: This is sorta like Guy Pearce in the movie ‘Memento,’ right? You wake up, look for the scribbled post-its, and use them to script your day. Yesterday and tomorrow aren’t relevant; the post-its are all that matter. Thankfully, this distracts the fanboy in me for a bit. Cuz, if it’s good enough for Guy Pearce, maybe it’s not so bad, after all? Meh. I’m still working on it.