Week #52, 2024
Week 52 of 2024 has arrived. The frenzy is almost over. The last minute errands are all close to complete. It doesn't have to be perfect. Relax and enjoy the love of family, friends and neighbors.
Time to walk over to your 4K Weeks poster and fill in another square. Done?
One year ago today my dad died. My amazing, wonderful, joyful, loving dad.
I had talked him into checking into the hospital a week before, just to help his 88 year-old body kick the pesky covid he had been fighting. I was pretty sure he would be home from the hospital in time for Christmas.
I went to the hospital at 5 pm on the afternoon of the 21st to meet with my family and his doctor. I was planning on an hour long meeting and then heading home to my wife and kids.
Instead we sat around his bed talking and sharing stories with him until he finally drifted off to sleep at around 11 pm, and then finally stopped breathing at around 1 am that morning.
Walking away from the body that used to hold my dad was one of the strangest moments of my life.
One day, all of your weeks will be filled in, and all of your "last's" will start happening. Your last meal, your last family outing, your last walk through your front door, your last kiss, your last hug, your last word, your last breath.
You never know when. You can't treat each moment as if it were your last.... it's not possible. But you can try to notice and enjoy each moment as it passes.
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Remarkable Weeks
Week 52 of 1994, Rod Stewart performed the largest free concert with 4 million people in the audience at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was 2,607.43 weeks old (50.00 yrs).
Week 52 of 2002, Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn in Mountain View, California. He was 1,847.00 weeks old (35.42 yrs).
Week 52 of 2022, Brian May, Queen's guitarist and an astrophysicist, was knighted in Britain for his contributions to music and charity. He was 3,936.86 weeks (75.50 4yrs).
This Week's Quote
"It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little, do what you can." - Sydney Smith
It's the catch-22 of doing something. Nothing is big enough to matter until it is, but if you don't start with the little you have, you won't ever build anything that matters.
I remember the darkest days of my young life... I had a series of bits of bad luck, compounded by the fact that I hadn't saved anything, and so I had no life raft.
Everyday I felt paralyzed... feeling like I didn't have any money, so I couldn't start anything that would make money... no money, no possibility, no possibility, no money... over and over, day in and day out.
There is a great Tony Robbin's Ted Talk where he talks about the difference between resources and resourcefulness.... It starts at 6:19... That's Al Gore, BTW.
DO SOMETHING!
What I am Consuming This Week
My wife has many skills... but chief among them is the ability to craft a sweet mix tape...
Sending mix cd's back and forth was one of the ways we connected deeply at the beginning of our relationship. Here is the playlist that she plays in our house during the holidays. My favorite is Dominick the Donkey... 6 hours! Ryann says to listen on shuffle!
What I am Thinking About This Week
The Second Arrow.
It was a beautiful rebound.
I was in position. The first rule of rebounding is to be thinking ahead. I held one defender off with a strong stiff arm, and sealed off the other with my body as the ball came off the rim. Either one of them could have reached over me had I not done such a great job of anticipating their movements. With my free hand I grabbed the ball as it came down, collected it with my other hand, and then jumped to put the ball back in the hoop.
Too much force. I missed the first "put back" as the ball went over the rim and came off the other side. I still had good position on the two defenders, and so, got the second rebound, and attempted the second put back. I noticed that it was going to go in as I came down on the outside edge of my left foot, a bit to extended over my body weight. But, there was nothing to be done. The momentum continued, and I rolled my left ankle hard, yelling AHH! and immediately falling to my knees.
That was the first arrow.
Nothing to be done about it. If you play basketball, you open yourself up to injury. The first arrow is out of my control.
So, now I am on the ground. I am dealing with the immediate pain. It hurts. I breathe. The game stops. They ask what I need. I know I am done playing today, they will need to find a sub. I stand up. I can limp over to the chairs.
Now, I will be dealing with the effects of the first arrow for a while. But as I limp over to the seats the second arrow is loosed, and the archer is me.
I hear it sailing towards me as I take the first few steps. The sharp focus of the moment is gone, and the dawning awareness of what this means rises.
I won't be able to play basketball for a few weeks.
It's going to be harder to get all my work done today.
We are supposed to go out with friends tonight, I can hardly walk!
I am going to have to be worried about this weak ankle for months.
I am no spring chicken, healing this is going to be hard!
I am going to lose all my hard won fitness progress!
This sucks!
I hate this!
Why did this happen to ME!
Those are all the second arrow.
The second arrow is the suffering. Worrying about all that other crap, all the "woe is me" talk, everything after the first arrow, is a choice.
Luckily I knew it. And so, I stepped aside, and let the second arrow sail past. There is no need to bright side it. No need for Pollyanna. It sucks that I sprained my ankle. I might have to keep reminding myself to step out of the path of the second arrow over the next few weeks.
That's ok. Knowing you have a choice is one of the most powerful motivators.
You often don't have a choice about the first arrow. You ALWAYS have a choice about the second.
P.S. If you read this whole email, here is your reward. A folksy song about dying in a river.
Until later,
Spencer
P.S. If you read this whole email, here is your 9 minutes to think deeply about the world, which is a great follow up to my thoughts about enthusiasm.
Dad Joke O' The Week
Why can't you trust the king of the jungle?
Because he's always lion.
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