Good and Bad

I think a lot about the duality of life. I was struck this morning by the fact that everything good seems to be accompanied with a downside. As I sat outside a coffee shop a man with a cool dog was forced to pick the dogs poop up with one of those "convenient" doggy bags. Having no trash receptacle nearby he was forced to carry the poop with him for a distance down the sidewalk. I watched and thought about how that dog, awesome as he was, caused his owner some amount of trouble. This is a common example, pets, children, and spouses can all be subject to some amount of cost benefit analysis.

Yet, to do a cost benefit analysis with something you love seems to objectify it in a way that makes the bad seem more important than the good. In reality the good always outweighs the bad. To look at the bad and make its value overly important is to make the part more valuable than the whole. I recently read a book about amateur rowers who were working to compete in the 1984 Olympics. The book constantly spoke of the pain, struggle, and sacrifice that is associated with rowing. Much of the book was focused on the hardship of these amateurs and the fact that even though they worked incredibly hard their sport was, in the end, unappreciated.

In the end the gratification came from within. They realized that their sacrifice, and hard work had been them stronger people. It is too easy to look at the negatives of a situation and make a ruling that it is not worth the pain. To say that a "poopatrator" like that dog is not worth it simply because he defecates in public places on occasion can overlook the happiness that he brings to his owner.

I am a victim of putting to much emphasis on the bad. It's easy to get wrapped up in the negative, because the negative, frankly, is scary stuff. Focusing too much on the bad and the fear that arises from them can stop us from doing things that in the end will only make us, smarter, stronger, and a better individual. Each negative that is overcome will give a little bit of confidence, and a little bit of confidence can go a long way.

I have always had a skinny-fat complex. I was a chubby young man, at least I thought so, and I have never been strong. For that reason I always tried to go around lack of strength by doing something else well. In particular I would run a lot and build a great amount of endurance. Endurance is not a necessary part of being a good football player for example. While working around a particular problem may be a good way of overcoming some obstacles for others it is just a cop out. Inevitably, for me to get stronger I am going to have to eat, put on a bit of fat, and lift heavy weights. This is something I have honestly been afraid of for a long time. Think intimidated in the weight room type of scenario. The fact of the matter is that the only way to overcome this is to confront it. If I let the things I have perceived to be negatives, gaining weight and fear of getting fat, I will never be able to reach my objective.

Just like the "poopatrator" dog, I cannot allow the negatives to stop me from achieving the benefits. Now, in some cases the poop may be just what we're after.