The Mental Arts Tidbit (Mar. 8)

Ordinary is OK

The Mental Arts Tidbit for the Day

Current Musing

Friday morning is the new year
And I wonder if this year is gonna be different
That’s a low bar for you to meet
To be a little better - maybe a little wiser
Maybe more legal and responsible
No pressure in paying your taxes by yourself
Or making sure your socks all match
And not leaving dried ketchup etched on a plate overnight
When you avoid laundry on the same night
As you sit at a coffee table eating chicken and eggs
Wondering about your existence over a stale piece of bread
And asking yourself the question to hit, stay or bet
Play planning poker with a round of regret

I think that this poem, called “Friday Morning,” captures a little bit of the existential crisis that we all feel from time to time. I am privileged enough to have the presence of mind to think about bigger questions like, “What is my calling” and “How will I make a difference today.” With that space to think, the mundaneness of ordinary life seems to come into sharp relief, with the resulting shadows formed not always pleasing to the eyes.

When I am not at my best, when I’m not feeling enough, then ordinariness, instead of being a neutral container in which we are able to fill with our dreams and desires, becomes more of an indictment of how we are not famous, not exceptional, or not successful.

This indictment strips us of our innocence to just go through life as is, enjoying what it gives us, instead of always looking over our shoulder or peering over the fence to see what we are doing wrong.

On the flip side, I’ve realized that the more I see the mundane aspects of life as something to be treasured, the more I’ve started to appreciate my journey in the martial arts…

• The fact that I still wash and fold my own laundry, because unlike the athletes that stay with room and board at a live-in facility, I still have to make sure that I have something to wear to class. At 31 years of age, I find it funny that I still occasionally run out of underwear.

• The fact that my current academy does not have espresso machines but does have its own custom soundtrack made by members. Yes, I’ve even added the rickroll song.

• Using arnicare on my bruises and purchasing tape from Amazon because I don’t have a cryotherapy/PT/massage therapist/professional stretcher on my team to help me with injuries. But I get to wear at least 3 different neon colors on my hand every class (and I guess my bruise has many colors as well).

• The fact that my time outside of jiu jitsu is not a series of traveling to exotic locations or pictures with world champions, but finding the right sticker to put on my little notebook of techniques and sorting through spreadsheets.

Ordinariness, my life as it exists in the usual flow of life, is calming, grounded, and assured…If you let it be that way.

Try This Tidbit

Whenever you find life or training to be too boring or mundane, how can you pause in that moment and see it for what it is: simply a part of being alive and important because it is a step in your journey?