When I was a kid, I used to play on frozen ponds. It's one of those things that I'm now amazed I was allowed to do, which causes me to worry that I'll be an overbearing parent. The small ponds weren't really scary, because they'd freeze all the way through quickly. The big ponds were frozen pretty well along the sides, but usually the middle would be questionable. Maybe it could support my weight, maybe it couldn't. I'd shuffle as far as I dared, and usually go back.
In the hallucinatory delirium that precedes sleep, I found myself last night thinking about my goals as frozen ponds.
Small goals, like small ponds, are easy. The whole thing is frozen solid, so you just slide across. It's good, but not great. You always know, too, that even if the ice breaks, the pond is so small that it's not a huge deal.
Big goals are like big ponds, and they're more complicated. For most of my life I would set big goals, start bravely towards them, and then shuffle back. It feels good to march towards the middle of a frozen pond, and it feels good to start on a big goal. Not only does no one blame when you inevitably turn around, they're a lot more comfortable if you'd do so. Turning around is easy.
SETT is the first big goal I've really stuck to. I'm in the middle of the pond, and I can't see the place I came from or the place I'm aiming for. I just assume that if I keep going, I'll probably get to the other side before the ice breaks. I can look down at the ice and think about how sturdy it seems, but the truth is that you never know. I doubt most people who fall into ponds think, "This ice looks really thin and weak... but let's just find out."
It's scary being in the middle of the pond. At the edges you can see other people shuffling around, so you know it's safe and comfortable. As you get to the middle there are fewer and fewer people. Even those who are also crossing the pond are taking some other route.
Big leaps towards a goal feel like, well, big leaps on ice. I remember the night I switched my blog to SETT. It was like jumping on the ice and hoping I wouldn't fall through. Same with getting the first few bloggers on it and same with charging people money.
When you're a kid and you first play on the safe ice in the small ponds or around the edges of big ponds, it's a lot of fun. As you grow, though, something draws you to the bigger ponds. You start wondering how far you can make it, and you're compelled to put your feet on the ice and find out. So if the ponds you're crossing these days aren't that exciting to you, or if you find yourself turning back, maybe it's time to take a shot and start walking across.
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Photo is a giant snowman my cousins and I made last winter. Passersby said it couldn't be done.
Life has been crazy lately, and I haven't seen my daily writing habit in months. I have a hundred blog posts written, but I forget exactly where they are, and I remember thinking none of them were amazing. So I'm in that position that I created that habit to get out of: it's the night before a post is "due", I'm unwilling to skip a day, and I've sat here for an hour writing intro sentences for a million different posts.
I wanted to write about how, when giving advice, I used to always just tell people to do exactly what I do. In time, I realized that the best way to support someone is to give the advice that will bring them closer to their goals and desires, rather than what you'd do with their resources to get to your own goal. I think I already wrote that post, though, and I'm not sure if I posted it or not. Then I realized that I spent about four hours today explaining to my friends why they should buy bitcoins and possibly buy a plane. So maybe I'm not so good at that, after all.
I scrapped that post and came back to an empty box. What am I thinking about these days, I asked myself?
Well, I have one cool project I'm doing, but it would ruin it to talk about it before it's done, so I have to wait on that. I know exactly what the blog post is going to be, though, and I can't wait to write it.
I've been tracking everything I eat lately, and putting some calorie numbers on them.
6 November Indian food: Rice, chicken, curry, vegetables.. Small banana. 900 cal.
9 November Lunch: Big portion rice, curry sauce, chicken. 1000 cal.
12 November Lunch: Two kinds of vegetables (one in very light curry), piece of chicken. 400 cal.
This is kind of crazy. The only difference is, I ordered more vegetables and didn't get any curry on the chicken.
