Just Keep Treading

There's often a marked difference between "swimming" and "treading." I asked my good friend Yoshi about this dichotomy and she assured me that she feels it, too. There are some days where you fly through your world, making wonderful decisions and you feel accomplished. You're making progress, even if it seems insignificant in the long haul. You are moving forward, even if its against the current…you're still moving forward. You're swimming.


There are other days where it takes nearly all your energy to keep your head above water. These days drag by because you're exhausted, scared, lonely, or just struggling against the grain. In my own life, I consider my 'gutting through' such days as accomplishment enough. These are the days you are holding steady, focusing mainly on survival. These are the days when, upon entering your house and dropping your keys, you sigh deeply and count the steps until you can crawl back in bed. You're treading.

I find it great when I experience the two verbs in one day (or one hour). I can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and "tread" through my morning. Sometimes I can change my own attitude to one of optimism; other times the attitude changes occurs when I realize some tiny accomplishment and feel the forward propulsion through the water (helping me "swim" once again). Weirdly, it's sometimes my choice whether I want to swim or tread.

I started the day today by treading. I focused on survival....and on caffeine. I caffeinated heavily enough to propel myself through a 16 hour work-day. I feel like I've truly "earned" my sleep tonight (however, said caffeine is keeping me nice and wired and I'm writing this for you instead of crashing). I'm off to read some dry leadership literature; that'll put me to sleep like a warm blankie over my brain!