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THREAD: Be a Sisy, Not a Sissy
Read on for the apparent typo to be explained!
Read on for the apparent typo to be explained!
Last night I cleaned my golf clubs. They’re old, second-hand, mismatched, but they do the job. I was reminded of cleaning my football boots as a 13y/o. Back then, my main thought was “why am I doing this?” After all, the next time I played, my boots would get muddy again.
As I remembered this last night, it reminded me of Sisyphus from the ancient Greek myth, eternally doomed to push a boulder up a steep hill, only for it to roll back down just as he got to the top.
To put it dramatically, cleaning golf clubs is a Sisyphan struggle.
To put it dramatically, cleaning golf clubs is a Sisyphan struggle.
What makes it worthwhile? Well, despite having to do it again the following time I play, I get the benefit of clean clubs for the next time I play. They help me play marginally better, and I enjoy the feeling of knowing I am taking care of something I am solely responsible for.
More importantly, there is also freedom and meaning to be found in the repetitive and mundane things in the daily struggle of the world, and cleaning something that will inevitably get dirty again is an example.
At that point I had a realisation… we’re Sisyphus every day.
At that point I had a realisation… we’re Sisyphus every day.
It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday - at the beginning of this morning you have to (/get to) push the rock up the hill, and at the end of the day it will roll back down for the following morning.
You could leave the rock today - at least you don’t have to work hard. However, you lose out on what you can accomplish during the day. Every time you push the rock you get stronger, and maybe it makes the next day easier, or you’re able to push an even bigger rock.
One difference between us and the mythical Sisyphus is that we get chronic benefits from pushing the rock every day - working out gets you stronger, sticking to your diet gets you healthier, and each day you tot up makes you capable of pushing a bigger rock the next day.
You can also ask other questions on your quest to push the rock the whole way up - are you being efficient? Using one hand when you could use two? Could you make the rock more spherical so that it rolls up easier? There’s a lot we can do to make each following day easier.
If we want to get the most meaning and benefit from each day, we need to take note from Sisyphus and revel in the daily struggle that comes back every morning. In other words: be a Sisy, not a sissy.
Cc: @ZachHomol for his recent prolific use of the word “sissy”.
Cc: @ZachHomol for his recent prolific use of the word “sissy”.
