0020: ENJOY THE WORK
Enjoy the Work
356 words, < 2 minutes
Adventures are hard. Heck, life is hard, but choosing adventure means that we are actively choosing a more difficult path. What in the world are we thinking? We’re not doing it because we have to, so what’s the deal?
The only way it makes sense is we must enjoy the work. Adventures require mental and physical effort, and the challenges are endless. Yet, for some wacky reason, we want to do it.
Think about the outdoor activities you love, climbing, paddling, biking, hiking, surfing, skiing… Are they easy? Nope. Adventure is a rebellion against comfort, but we enjoy it because showing up and putting in the work has meaning.
Tour de France winner Greg LeMond once said, “It never gets easier, you just go faster.” Our goal may not be to become the fastest, but we know that each time we put ourselves out there, we are preparing ourselves to get out there again.
It’s the paradox of self-improvement – you are perfect, but you can always be better.
Action and satisfaction are connected. We create new opportunities by doing hard things. Challenge and uncertainty narrow our focus and bring all of our attention into the moment. As we go point to point, each rock, wave, root, or turn is a chance to succeed. Enough successes build confidence and trust in ourselves, even when things don’t go as imagined. The work is the catalyst.
Adventures also encourage us to pause, take out a map (or guidebook😉), and look around. All of a sudden, we see our lives from 10,000 feet above. When we take a step back and see the big picture of where we’ve been and how we got there, that’s often when we feel the most gratitude.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, we know from experience that whatever we are going through, it usually isn’t permanent. Hard days fade into memory. Good times don’t last long enough. It too shall pass. So why does anyone choose the challenge, uncertainty, and the work of adventure?
Who knows, but the next time it gets tough out there, it might help to remember that we enjoy it.
LINKS FOR ADVENTURE NERDS
A BILLION-DOLLAR IDEA FROM A BAJA SURF TRIP
Stephen Hillenburg drew in a sketchbook on a Baja surf trip, and the odd little creatures became the global phenomenon of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Duke recalled the surf trip and shared Hillenburg’s dedication to the cartoon and his struggle with ALS.
Read (The Surfers Journal) 10 minutes
THE FIRST AROUND-THE-WORLD CYCLING TRIP
In the 1880s, Thomas Stevens rode around the world on a penny-farthing bike. It took two years, and according to Robert Isenberg, the book he wrote may have had a bigger impact than the cycling record. The book launched a new literary style that Isenberg affectionately called “sports porn.”
Read (Longreads) 10 minutes
BIG YEAR BIRDING RECORDS
McCarthy’s profile of Tiffany Kersten’s attempt to break a birding record was wonderfully written. Unemployed and free, Kersten found her way out of COVID frustrations by embarking on an adventure to find more than 700 species of birds. The story is much less about birds than you might think.
Read (Texas Monthly) 10 minutes
CLIMB ON
We enjoyed listening to David Sacher’s story of bikepacking through South America and coming home to start VITAL, a 24-hour climbing gym. He described the challenges of the trip as forming a diamond in his soul that became a valuable part of his identity.
Listen (Wild Ideas Worth Living) 29 minutes
JOYFULLY PERSISTENT
We kept getting stuck calling Quinn Brett’s story inspiring. There has to be a better word. Listen to the Dirtbag Diaries story about how a climbing accident changed Brett’s life but didn’t stop her from exploring trails on an electric-assisted bike.
Listen (Dirtbag Diaries) 32 minutes
RELAX TO WIN
Loose jaw. Loose hands. High knees. Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, Legacy of Speed, was about the career of coach Bud Winter. However, it was less a profile and more an exploration of race, sport, and society in the 1960s. Many of the ideas feel current and applicable.
Listen (Legacy of Speed) 38 minutes
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