(Re)Balance

Almost a year ago I entitled a post `Balance.'  Had to do with balancing job, family, training, private time, time to do nothing.  I didn't and still don't know anybody who can do it all well.

Now that I'm retired I have a new set of factors that don't include `job' and a few other things.  The transition, for a type A kind of guy, needs to be considered well in advance or you'll experience the `Wiley Coyote Syndrome,' i.e., the absence of demanding schedules and professional adulation will make you feel like you ran off a cliff and the bottom dropped out from under you.

Action Defines Us.   And it requires structure, initiative and determination to re-manufacture relevant meaning in one's life. 

I'm experiencing two important discoveries.  First, spending more time training on the bike takes a toll on my post-training energy.  At this point in my training the naps become more frequent and my sleep is deeper and more satisfying.  Second, I'm tempted to put non-training things off until later.  Part of that has to do with the post-training fatigue.  A fair amount, though, has to do with a sense of anxiety about `change.'  I don't entirely understand, yet, what that anxiety is about but it's getting clearer and clearer --- that's what maturity helps with: one works on a thoughtful `response' instead of just `reacting.'

More later about this topic but it is as relevant to my training as everything I've done in the past.  Training has to be what you WANT to do, not something that is an addictive distraction from floating anxiety.