Can You Build Paradise?

     Yesterday, in a rather unusual choice of activities, I laid in the hammock for quite some time despite the fact that it was about 48 degrees at the time. Cold by Florida standards. I grabbed the sleeping bag and my headphones and got all settled in for a nice winter nap. I ended up not using the headphones for the first half hour and instead just listened to the wind and the trees. It was a bit breezy on account of the cold front moving in, which brought with it even cooler night air.

Cold day hammock nap. Sleeping bag was the best decision.

     As the wind was blowing I was imagining the same scenario in summer. After I finish mowing the yard or tending to the garden, retreating to the hammock for an afternoon nap in the shade of the trees. I was imagining different areas where I could possibly locate the hammock, thinking if there were areas among what will be many wild looking plants growing fiercely in the sun and rain of the early summer. As I was doing this I imagined what the view from the hammock would look like if my imagination were the only limit. It turns out, my idea of paradise looks an awful lot like my front yard with just a little modification. More banana trees for starters. Lots more banana trees. A little change to the front porch, new paint for the house, some reworking of the driveway to make room for the wife's English garden, and of course room for more banana trees.
     None of these ideas in and of themselves seemed impossible, or even improbable, just not immediate. These things take time and perseverance. I can dream of big piece of land with all the space to roam and experiment, but when it comes down to it, I can picture paradise here just as well as anywhere. I think that is why I believe we can build paradise; because we can picture it where we are. If you aren't able to picture a better tomorrow where you are today, then no amount of planning or resources will allow you to build paradise, because you will not be happy where you are. Paradise is as much about happiness as it is environment. Don't believe me? Think about when you were a kid and miserable in some fantastic location. My bet is you were infinitely happier in you backyard tree fort or at the basketball court. The environment can only take you so far. The contentment comes first, then the realization of what makes things great.
       Can you build paradise? If you are already content, then certainly you can. You just can't do it all today.

The Most Important Steps Are The Least Fun

Bella knows the important steps.

    It occurred to me while driving this week that the most important parts of almost every pursuit are also the least fun parts of that pursuit. I was frustrated at the time about not being able to redo our deck at this time. The deck is old and rickety, and has been re-screwed more times than I can count, and is still falling apart. I would love to just rip it out and start anew. The only problem with that is that it would throw a major wrench into the plans to pay off the house. The deck is not the sole thought like this. It occurs almost monthly that I come across a project that falls firmly in the want category rather than the need. You see, the deck has not yet reached the point of being a safety hazard. It is an eye sore perhaps, and a practice in futility while trying to extend its life, but for now it remains functional enough. For these reasons, replacing the deck is a want. If it were a safety concern I would just remove it and do without a deck for a while. A deck is a want. No one ever perished for their need of a deck.
     Back to the bigger point. I realized that continuously spying projects, dreaming up solutions, and then placing them on the back burner just plain sucks. To keep saying no to what are perfectly reasonable ambitions really drags on you over time. It isn't without its positives though. One certainly learns contentment and ingenuity. It is difficult however because if we were to step out of our bubble and act like the majority of people in the world, we could and would have completed many of these projects by now. Most of them are within the window of affordability that we could have completed them and met our other financial obligations. Most of them are projects that I could do, which would even save a substantial amount of money. So telling ourselves no to so many of these projects over the last 3 years has been hard. It is one of the hardest parts of sticking to such an aggressive goal.
    That was when it hit me, that the most important steps are always the least fun. The most important part of learning a new subject is the continuous struggle of practice. Problem set after problem set, chapter after chapter. It is the unseen day to day grind that is the most important part. The midterm is not really the most important part, it is just the proxy that we use to show whether or not the important work was done. When preparing for a race, it is not the race that is the important part, rather it is the silent and unseen mileage put in day in and day out leading up to that race. It's not even the good days where the miles fly by and speed comes in abundance that is the most important. It's the days where your legs are heavy and your breath is fleeting. The days where minutes feel like hours and miles drag on for days. Those. Those are the important days. Those are the days when the casual runner will hang up their shoes and wait for the next day. They are the days that even the committed find themselves skipping from time to time. It is in the moments that we have the most abundant and reasonable excuses to quit that the most important work is done. These times are always the least fun.
    Life is not about punishing yourself, but it should be about pushing yourself. Setting goals and going after them. If you ever find yourself in a situation where most people are telling you that your goals are unreasonable stop and remember: most people quit before they make it to the important steps. Know, if your goal is ambitious your path will be punishing. This may sound grim, I know. Ask yourself though, "Do you remember your studying for the test that you aced? or do you remember the awful days of training for your best race?" I suspect maybe, if you really try very hard, but if you are like me, those difficult but important times on your way to your goal are just vagaries and pale in comparison the feeling and memory of the goal achieved.
     Go forth and achieve. Know, if you find yourself in a moment that is decidedly not fun, just smile and know that the important steps are upon you. Why would you quit now?