Aching in a Good Way
One of my favorite feelings in the whole world is the day after an intense workout. I tried out this new ab workout a few weeks ago and I spent the following four days feeling like I’d been in a fight. Every month or so I do this sprint workout I learned a long time ago where you do a 40 then a 45 then a 50 then 55, 60, 65…all the way up to a 100 yards at a dead sprint (jogging back and 10-15 seconds of rest per). I did it twice, back to back. The next day I could barely get out of bed. Literally every part of my body ached, including for some reason, my arm pits.
I have a big shipment of books coming from Amazon and I am almost giddy to get to them. To see them in a week strewn about the floor–flagged and torn apart, stained with food and a dirty cover. To crack the spine like it was a person you hated, to conquer it, to absorb it and simultaneously refuel with it.
I like that better than I do the feeling of a lazy Sunday or sleeping in (although both are fantastic). Which only leads me to further believe, as Aristotle did, that happiness is the expression of excellence. And that more than anything, good spirits depend on creating a space in which you can do something that you like as best as you possibly can.
I have so much I want to write. So much to say. So much further to run. So much more to do. So much more to learn. But I suppose that if it didn’t happen, if something happened and made all that impossible, I could shrug it off. Because yesterday, I did everything I fucking could. I was at full capacity.
boring
i’m 20 years old. you seriously inspire me. just thought you should know
Hey Jim. No-one’s making you read this. No-one here values your opinion. Fuck off somewhere else.
Ryan, I have a kind of odd question. Where/how do you find it best/easiest to read? I tend to find it hard to sit down and absorb books for extended periods of time without becoming really fidgety and aggravated. And then my mind wanders and I realize I’ve lost track of the last page or two. Is there anything you do when reading, or regarding the actually setting of your reading, which you think helps you better settle into the whole experience?
Thanks for your time, man. And keep writing – I read every post. Awesome stuff.
Peace.
When that happens, just take a break. We all have natural walls that we hit in how we learn and fighting it is only going to cause a headache.
I read with music normally. But I can read anywhere, in the car, in a crowed room, at night, etc. My girlfriend can read while walking, which I can’t seem to pull off.
But generally, if you notice yourself losing track of a whole page, just get up and do something else. You’re not trying to prove anything to anyone. You’re trying to leanr.
This post deviates from the norm. I don’t typically read a “I woke and had pancakes”-esque post here. It is refreshing though…I suddenly have an urge to ‘rip’ open a book.
Thanks man.
Soren, are you honestly going to tell me you need advice when it comes to reading books? As much as Ryan is smart, you’re not doing doing him any favours by wasting his time with bullshit questions like that. Why not go the whole hog and look for advice on wiping your arse? Fuck me, you people baffle me at times.
Soren, are you fucking serious? You honestly need advice on how to read books? Ryan’s a smart guy but he can only take you so far, and if you’re looking for guidance when it comes to reading then I’d start asking yourself if this is the site for you. You fucking people baffle me at times.
I think reading while walking is a truly bad idea. I have to rely more heavily on sight than most people (nearly stone deaf), but why toss awareness of your changing environment out the window for a book?
You’ll have missed most of what went on around you during the amble and the book will still be in your bag when you get to your destination. I’d rather walk faster, see and experience what’s happening, get to where I’m going 10 minutes early and plop down to read with more of my attention focused on the book.
Haha, it all depends on where you’re doing your reading. In Riverside, there’s not much to see.
For the record though Soren, I wouldn’t have answered the question if it was stupid.