SERGEANT HULKA: Soldier, I’ve noticed that you’re always last.
PRIVATE WINGER: I’m pacing myself, Sergeant.
–From the Movie Stripes
I’ve always been an all or nothing sort of guy.
When I was growing up my folks bought some horses. I wasn’t part of that decision. Really didn’t have any passion for the beasts, at least not at first. But I discovered I liked them, threw myself into working with them. Eventually found myself in an unusual place. I was an eighteen year old guy who was really good with horses.
Then I went off to college and I’ve maybe ridden a horse 5 times in the nearly 20 years since graduating.
I used to drink a lot. The short version is that I was a drunk. Then one day I stopped completely. Haven’t had any alcohol in well over 10 years now.
About a year and a half ago I got into blogging. My wife says I’m a bit obsessed. (I see no signs of that one slowing down yet.)
My two favorite food groups are coffee and chocolate. (I count Klondike Bars in the second group. They go good with coffee too!) I seem to prefer quantity over quality in these two groups, although that shows some signs of changing as I get a little older. I don’t know if my taste buds are getting more refined or if maybe my wallet is getting just a tich fatter.
What’s my point?
Well I tend to be a little intense and driven. I sometimes take on more than I can get done. And I often find the alarm clock rudely shaking me away too shortly after I fell asleep the night before.
Private John Winger, on the other hand was the other extreme. He was good at pacing himself. Perhaps too good.
He tended to be a slacker who had to learn to get things accomplished.
But he seemed to get enough sleep most nights.
Me, sometimes I seem to be on the path Neil Young talked about when he said, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
There’s got to be some good middle ground out there that will be healthier for us but where we’ll still get things done. The trick is to find it.
So I’ll throw the question out to all you smart Successful-Bloggers. How do you pace yourself?
–Chris Cree, SuccessCREEations.