I use to play racquetball three days a week at 5 o’clock in the morning. I played with a very competitive group and the way I remember it, I was pretty good. Life got busy and I missed a couple of days and that turned into a couple of years.
One of my friends recently called and asked if I would be his partner in a doubles tournament. I agreed to play, thinking it would be fun and that we would probably lose early and only have to play a couple of games. When I got there, I discovered that there were very interesting rules for this tournament. Ten teams were participating and each team had to play each other and record the score. The winner of the tournament would be the team that scored the most points, not the most victories. No team would be eliminated. This meant that I was in for nine games of racquetball.
After the first game, I thought about going home. I am not in the right shape to play that many games, but it is hard for me to quit so I kept playing. Four and half hours later, I stumbled to my car and drove home. There were muscles in my body talking to me that I hadn’t heard from in a long time. I also had failed to get out of the way of two 100+ mile per hour racquetballs and I had two beautiful purple marks to prove it.
I couldn’t sleep that night. For the last three days the only time I have felt good is when I am sitting. I can barely walk or bend. This makes it difficult for me to be me. I am shocked to find that my Ironman Triathlon shape has degraded to such a low level. What happened to me? Has this ever happened to you?
Short Term / Long Term
We usually pay the least amount of attention to things that have very little short term impact. For example, if I had only missed a couple of weeks of racquetball my body would not feel the way it does right now. Because short term impact is minimal, many days can go by without me even noticing that I am neglecting something very important. It takes a while before the long term impact is felt.
The real problem comes when we neglect things or people that are even more important than physical health. Sometimes we take relationships for granted because we can, and focus on the urgent but unimportant matters before us.
While the short term impact may be insignificant, the long term impact, like the pain of my sore out of shape body, may be debilitating.
The good news is that it is never too late to start over. I can start playing racquetball again today, or I can go and begin to repair a damaged relationship. The key is learning how to identify those areas that produce the greatest long term benefits, and then organizing your life around those areas.
The next time you wonder how you’re doing ask yourself, “Am I giving the least, to those who matter most?” Your answer to this important question will help you create your priorities.
Live Today! Love Today!
Andrew Thorn
760-559-3548
