“It makes you tough. It builds character.” – Matt Dymmel

Deep Squats (Thoughts)

“Bend, but don’t break.” “Just hang on a little longer.” “It will all be worth it.”

We’ve all heard these maxims at some point. There are many others. Above, I quoted my brother, Matt, from my childhood. He would say this while inflicting some sort of painful situation on me. We would fight. But, the funny thing is that he never seemed malicious. I was the little brother and I wanted to hurt him. He seemed to just want me to learn a lesson and get better. To be tougher.

What is it with pain and suffering that is so necessary to being successful? Myriad books have been written about such things. Entire religions and philosophies are based on life being suffering. I’ll spare you the truly long winded versions and just accept that this is the way it works. Hardship is necessary. We’re wired to need it, even though we may spend our lives avoiding it.

On Sunday, Kristen and I planted some trees in the yard. One tree came with a support stick in the pot. The man at the nursery told us to remove the support when we planted it so it would blow in the wind and develop stronger roots and body. Kinda like letting our kids flounder sometimes while still in the relative safety of being home while also knowing they will face far greater stress when they leave home. It seems that EVERYTHING needs to be stressed to get better. More than once I’ve said, “This is the easiest it’s ever going to be,” to my kids.

Hopefully, this isn’t a depressing email so far. Because, it’s not meant to be. So hold tight for one more. We’ve had quite a run of illnesses, injuries, dog issues, scheduling conflicts, family drama, etc. for the last few months. After the initial, “UGH!”, I try to just laugh before setting about figuring it out while saying, “If it wasn’t this, it’d be something else.”

Which reminds me of one of my favorite movies. “Elizabethtown” starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Check out this clip for the cleansing moment of the movie. That saying is what the patriarch of the family seemed to say his whole life. It’s on a banner in this scene at the wake following his death. I dare you to watch and not laugh, or at least smile.

Use it all, my friends. Use whatever is in your life to get better and be better. It’s a never ending journey. Which is also good since it’d be so boring if there was actually an end.

See you in class.

Tim

What’s Going On?

Spring’s Teen Class

Who: Boys and Girls aged 12-17 Dates: March 4 – April 24th When: Tuesdays/Thursdays at 4pm *Email [email protected] to sign up*

Nutrition Coaching Coach Rebecca is now offering nutrition coaching which will include: Initial assessment, InBody testing and weekly check-ins. Contact her for details. [email protected]

Overheard in Class: “Life responds to effort.”

Timfluencing

Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.

Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better.

Furthermore, the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events. Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is what we call “efficient” not efficient at all? Why do government responses and social policies protect the strong and hurt the weak? Why should you write your resignation letter before even starting on the job? How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives? The book spans innovation by trial and error, life decisions, politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems, and medicine. And throughout, in addition to the street wisdom of Fat Tony of Brooklyn, the voices and recipes of ancient wisdom, from Roman, Greek, Semitic, and medieval sources, are loud and clear.

Tim’s Take: Taleb’s example of teacups being fragile and breaking when you drop them has been the most memorable for me since listening to this in 2016. No amount of conditioning or training will make a teacup less fragile. BUT, we are not meant to be teacups. We respond to stress by getting stronger. Even our broken bones, of which I have many, come back stronger. Live resolute on coming out stronger from everything.

Thank you for your support.

I look forward to what we will do together.