A Good Problem to Have

Hi!

I’m back sooner than I thought I would be—mostly because I need to take a little break from what I am currently working on.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about a good problem to have. Namely, choosing between an activity that you love to do and, well, other things. For me, that often means deciding between going to a yoga class and meeting up with friends. I call this a good problem to have because there really isn’t a bad option in the mix. And, I completely welcome this problem. Less than three months ago when I was living in Vermont it wasn’t even on my radar.

But now that it is, I realize that lots of people face this dilemma. Whichever activity you love to do, you probably want to do it every chance you get. Plus, it keeps you fit, healthy, and sane so it’s important to do it regularly. But sometimes other opportunities come along and you don’t have time to do both. So which do you choose?

I’ve found that there’s no hard and fast rule, and it’s usually about making a decision that’s right for me in that moment. For the most part I try to keep a balance (fancy that) between the number of times I choose one and the times I choose the others. I don’t exactly keep score, but when faced with making a decision I take into account the choice I made on the previous occasion. I consider if I was happy with the outcome or if I should have gone with the other option.

I have also found that oftentimes the problem isn’t just that the activities happen to occur at the same time. For instance, say you love running early Saturday mornings, before the trails get too crowded and before the sun makes it too hot to push your hardest. But you know that if you stay out late the night before, you’re not going to want to crawl out of bed when the rest of the city is still asleep. So, sometimes you have to make the decision to bow out earlier in the evening—possibly risking missing some good times—so that you can get your run in at dawn.

There’s definitely a fine line between getting a little too hardcore about your activity to the point that you deprive yourself of experiences and opportunities and forgoing your activity too frequently. Like everything else, I’m working on finding a balance here--and it’s a delicate one.

The most important thing I can say, from experience, is that every single time you make this decision, it has to be all your own. If someone else makes it for you, even if you go along with it, you’re never going to be satisfied. Never ever. The choice has to come from you.

One rule of thumb that I apply, when making the choice, is considering which option is less likely to come along again. If you can go for a run, bike ride, or yoga class any day, but you only have the chance to meet a close friend for drinks once in a while, then spending that time catching up is probably the wisest decision—even if it means missing a workout. Of course, I’ve found that those types of decisions are typically no-brainers; it’s the time when both options are rare ones or both options are frequent ones that the decision becomes difficult. For those instances, I offer these suggestions: Make your decision. Be present with whichever one you choose. And enjoy yourself.

Oh, and whenever possible find a way to do it all J