Running Shoes

Generalize:  To emphasize the general character rather than specific details of; make vague.


Most of my conversations with newish alcoholics end up with this characterization: "Egomaniac with an inferiority complex."  Then, I think: "This dude believes he's relaxed."  I hate to generalize . . . well, not really as it's a convenient way to place the world into tidy little boxes that I find comforting . . . but when I'm in a meeting I believe that I'm surrounded by hard-charging overachievers.  I don't see too much relaxed in the chairs around me.  I see some people who have managed to take their foot off the accelerator but not too many who think that slow is a good speed.


The difference for me today is that when I don't achieve the absurdly high levels of accomplishment that I think are my responsibility I have a way to handle the frustration and disappointment that can well up.  I have been able to lower the bar, but not too much.  It's still way up there.  I can hardly see it most of the time.  I still compile a hefty list of tasks to complete when I start my day and I still look at the tasks that were left undone with a critical and judgmental eye.  The difference in my world view today is that I can laugh at what I think I can accomplish, even as I try to accomplish it all, and I don't beat myself up with too large of a club when I fail to accomplish everything, which I do because the list is too long, and I am human after all.


Early on I heard a woman with a lot of sobriety say: "If you want to keep up with me you better put on your running shoes."  She was busy; she was active, and I liked that about her.