Overload

"How many basketball comps would that make it?"
"Well, if I join these two, then it would make it four."
"I think that's too many."

Having spent three years of my time on out-of-town assignments, I came back safe in the knowledge that I had upgraded my fitness levels - from terrible to horrendous.

I played pickup basketball and my friend asked me, "Are you ok? Your face looks black from lack of oxygen..."

At that point I knew I needed to do something to regain my fitness, so proceeded to ask around with regards to basketball competitions, pickup games, indoor/outdoor soccer - practically anything which allowed me to sweat it out.

My regime would consist of basketball training three times a week, two basketball comps during the week as well as an indoor soccer session.

The first couple of weeks were absolutely exhausting (especially with work slotted around all that too), but slowly my fitness was back and I could run for ages without getting tired.

If I threw two more competitions in there, I would have absolutely no time to do anything.

I guess I get carried away sometimes, and in my mind I am unwilling to compromise. With all those activities, it is not surprising that I have very little time to do anything else at all. Yet, I still lament that I have not finished enough video games, worked on my golf swing, seen friends enough or tackled the massive stack of paperwork sitting on my desk.

In the past, I would have questioned why I couldn't have everything.
"Why can't I play heaps of basketball and be good at it, as well as have a successful career as well as see all my friends?"
Now, I realise that my biggest constraints are: time and energy.

I'm also sure that there are some very talented folk out there who are good at practically everything without having to work on it. But for those who are like me and suffer from severe mediocracy: to be good at anything, time and energy are required.

Perhaps the same could be said for relationships. Without dedicating proper time and energy to it, it will never flourish. Sure, time and energy doesn't guarantee results but less time and energy could have even worse results than those already achieved (think what it would be like if no time or energy were spent on it!)

Both elements are important. Time without energy means that one does not put their heart into it. Having energy with no time results in intense spurts which are not effective nor long term focused.

Having recently played chaffeur for my sister, we stopped for coffee and chatted about what we had been doing and our thoughts on the future. The forty minutes went by quickly and I think we both had a good time talking and we both realised that we had not chatted like that in ages.

I am a big advocate of striving for balance in the activities I do, so I will definitely aim to dedicate more time and energy in different facets of my life.