I Can't Get No...Satisfaction

I wonder what it is about the human psyche that propels us to push past our limits? Is it the desire to progress and grow, or simply some masochistic need to feel like an idiot the majority of the time?

For example, yesterday I took a dance class. Most of the class focused on alignment and stretching, with about half an hour of choreography at the end. Me - not a dancer. A mover. Eventually. And I can do a pretty good job convincing people that I know what I'm doing. But not in dance class (and we're talking easy dance class, people). I spent that half hour in complete misery, feeling like a failure. It was awful. I hated it. And I'll go back.

Same goes for running. As soon as I was able to run for 5 consecutive minutes, I stretched that to 8 minutes, then 10 all the way up to my very first 5K race. After that I had to try 5 miles, and we all know where I wound up ;) And if it's not distance, it's speed. Every time I run a race that I've run before, I have to run it faster. There always has to be some sort of measurable improvement that I can point to and say "See! See what I can do, what I've accomplished!" I always have to be moving forward to the next mile marker, the next PR, the next big goal.

CrossFit plays into that mentality as well - the workouts are designed to push the athelete. Do it faster, do it heavier. Do it better.

Is satisfied the same as complacent?

3 comments:

  1. "Is satisfied the same as complacent?"

    Not the way I see it - complacency indicates some sort of laziness and apathy, whereas satisfaction indicates some measure of being pro-active. I guess. It's just words.

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  2. This is Jeremy Voss, your old ACMAP buddy, by the way!

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  3. LOL - I'd figured :) Good to see you!

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