Time to review the week!
1) Pro:Con::Progress:________
The House passed the health care bill over the weekend and it’s time to review a crucial concept, since good old Nancy Pelosi is acting like it’s weird that the “progressive” agenda hasn’t rolled faster over America. But I might be a bit late, since the liberal political blogs that I read have been nearly as unhappy about the bill as conservatives (although they’re unhappy at the compromises, not the excess). If you still haven’t figured out why the progressive agenda might be an awful idea waiting to happen, the answer is “consequence”.
2) Good leadership is about making people feel more connected, not more exclusive
You can be exclusive when so many people want to join in that you can prune out the undesirable. But you can’t when meetings are run where 90% of the attendees wish they were somewhere else and it’s considered an act of kindness to make excuses that keep someone out. Forcing people into a group guarantees poor morale and bad work, especially if you’re demanding improvement and high standards. The first thing they tell you in Navy SEAL training is “You volunteered for this. Nobody asked you to come here”. It’s a big difference.
3) Rest is overrated
I took a rest day this week and it didn’t do crap. Oh sure, it’s different if you have an acute injury like a bruise, a muscle strain, or a joint sprain, and you need time to deaden the pain. But going from an overuse injury to nothing is just begging to create an ugly cycle. Reduced days and cross-training seem to work far better at avoiding staleness and encouraging the body to heal faster. It’s all about staying active, mind and body.
4) Couples dating
One thing I don’t like about married life is the fact that “we” don’t have many friends, and it’s difficult in the context of marriage for either one of us to enjoy our private friendships. I’ve been trying to reach out to my friends a little better since the wedding, but I haven’t gotten much farther than some funny phone and IM conversations. It is just as hard for Aki, since I’m definitely not close with any of her friends. So what we need is some couples dating, to find other couples to be friends with and try going out with them. Wow, this lesson makes me sound pathetic so I’m going to stop myself right here.
Goals from the week:
1) Run summary. Fell far short:
2) – 5) Let’s just leave it at “fell short”
6) I did experiment with budgets and found some interesting things
Verdict: “fell short” is the theme of the week, it seems. Pretty bad.