A mindset of "fun"

Practice is difficult.  No one wants to spend countless hours alone in front of a piano, or violin, or in a batting cage, or shooting free throws.  It boring, lonely, and tedious work.  But the results show when you hit the field or the stage.  Its practice that separates Keiko Matsui and Michael Jordan, from countless violinist and street ball players.  Sure "the greats" have natural talent and ability, but we all have some, just like every knife has an edge.  It is the through practice that those who excel hone their talent to a fine point.

Ok, so what does any of that have to do with my prepping?  Well, practice for a crisis can be just as boring as free throws, but if you're doing it right its a lot harder.  Keeping that human "edge" to be ready to deal with adversity isn't easy.  Looking at the past two winters we have seen time and time again people across the country trapped on the expressway miles from home by ice and snow.  Having a get home bag in your car is good, but a little practice on hoofing it to safety WITH the gear in that bag is much better.

The easiest way to practice is to make it fun.  This brings us to a big question, what is "fun".  Well, climbers, hikers, runner, campers, outdoorsmen, have developed a kind of scale that classifies fun in the following ways...

Type I Fun – true fun, enjoyable while it’s happening, and fun to remember.  Good food, good sex, margaritas, a day at the beach.  Basically, Disneyworld.

Type II Fun – fun only in retrospect, hateful while it’s happening. Things like mountain climbing, triathlons, winter camping, marathons and 10k runs.  Great war stories to relive over a beer with your buddies

Type III Fun – not fun at all, not even in retrospect. As in, “What the hell was I thinking? If I ever even consider doing that again, somebody slap some sense into me".  But, i was outside, and thats better then being stuck in the house any day.



So, growing up a city kid, I had to work to change my mindset and redefine what is fun and what i enjoy.  The rush of excitement when my eyes first open and i see the roof of my tent.  Watching the sunrise while cooking breakfast over a open fire as the sun comes up and its 15 degrees. That satisfied feeling while my meal heats up on my Jetboil after a 10 mile pack hike.  The smell of smoke from the campfire in the evening.  

Sure, sitting in a sports bar with a cold beer watching the final four with my buddies can be fun, but its not going to help me save my family in a crisis.  I have only so much recreation time, changing my mindset of fun to things that will contribute to my survival make the work enjoyable.