One more week, one more set of lessons learned. Let’s review:
1) To be good at any sport, you need a strong running base
This week has made me realize quite starkly that I am not in good running shape, and that is hurting my performance badly. From taekwondo to tennis to jabroni hour, I’m gassing out because my running base is not strong. I need a lot more training in all kinds of running, both long distance and sprinting. If you want to perform at better than n00b level, you need to be able to perform the activity for the minimum amount of time without being too tired. For TKD, that means being able to bounce and move around for 3 three-minute rounds. For tennis, that means being able to run and swing for at least a couple hours. For jabroni hour, it means being able to sweat and bust ass for as long as necessary to finish the workout without wishing you could lay down and die. I will take much more consideration of my running base.
2) Wedding planning will drain you white, both literally and financially
If you ever have to plan a wedding, be sure to keep your coffers full and your other life stress less than normal. Two weeks out, the wedding planning has become an extreme burden. I miscalculated badly on my own reserves and I’ve been basically wiped out by extraneous costs. There isn’t any one thing that got to me, it’s just the collective of spending a few hundred here, a grand there. We’re making things a lot nicer than necessary and being a lot more generous than normal (for instance, doing the English tradition of paying for the dresses and tuxes of our wedding party), hoping that the end product is a lot more sophisticated than people are used to. Also, don’t listen to wedding planners – everyone told us 80 is a small number, because it is in comparison to Indian people who regularly have 300+ person weddings. But Miller told me that his brother’s wedding had 80 people and felt good-sized, while the reception was 150 and felt overwhelming.
3) Best jobs out of college are whatever you’re really passionate about
Going to the reunion, I had a few observations about my classmates. First and foremost, the doctors look BEAT. About ten of my closer friends became doctors – four radiologists, an orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon, an otolaryngologist, an ophthalmologist, a urologist, and an obstetrician. The common feature in all of them is that they had been pushed incredibly hard in their training and were heavily overworked – bags under the eyes and grim smiles were the norm. But what drove them was their passion for medicine and how much they loved what they did. Even though the work is tough and the hours are long, they were not unhappy with their career choice. The lawyers and financial people were more sharply dressed but seemed a lot more ambivalent about how happy they were – most were pleased with their lives but some seemed to be swallowing a bitter life as the price of success. For ultimate happiness, nobody seemed happier as a group than the people who started their own businesses. There’s something about being in control of your life, nurturing your own growth, and fostering success on your own that makes life seem pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, they also had the biggest struggles and probably the hardest lives (both in long hours and worry about future success), but they seemed the most satisfied with what they’ve done.
Goals from the week:
1) Done, if you reduce the goal to 70% of what I said because of my trip to LA
2) Got the exercise but didn’t get the running
3) Done – wedding stuff is very much on track, the only thing in my life that’s working out right now
4) Done and done
Verdict: Not bad – the trip to LA was healthy but shut progress down. It was worth it.