“I go off on tangents,” I told my friend, Paul.
Frankly, he didn’t know where I was going with this comment, yet, so he just looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
“I had this idea a few days ago and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or if it’s just another silly ‘Dan tangent.’”
Paul kept looking at me with no expression on his face, really. He was waiting to hear what I was up to, this time.
I said, “I used to be pretty good at doing push-ups, a long time ago, and I was wondering if it would be possible for me, at age 51, to work up to doing 100 push-ups, non-stop.”
Now, Paul’s eyes let up. Paul is a physical trainer and he is tremendously physically fit. Paul is in the kind of shape that most people only dream of when they’re watching those commercials that sell the latest exercise equipment. And this is the kind of thing he loves to hear.
“Is having a goal of doing 100 push-ups a good idea?” I asked.
“That’s a great goal,” said Paul. He was smiling now. And I think I could see the wheels beginning to turn in his mind.
“I can do about 20 push-ups with good form, right now,” I told Paul. “What’s a reasonable amount of time for me, at my age, to be able to work up to doing 100 push-ups, non-stop?”
“For you, it’s going to take 2 to 3 years,” said Paul, soberly. “And that’s if the whole project is accompanied by hours and hours of daily prayer and fasting, and a miraculous intervention of God’s Holy Spirit working at the cellular structure of your….”
Ha! Just kidding. Paul didn’t say that. He said, “Well, you want to be careful to do this in such a way that you don’t get injured, so, I would say, 60-90 days.”
I was surprised.
“You think, with the right training, I could actually do 100 push-ups, non-stop, in 60 to 90 days?” I asked.
Paul nodded his head and immediately began telling me what I should do for the first 2 weeks of training.
So, here I go. I’m going to do this. I’m going to embark on one of my tangents. The goal: To be able to do 100 non-stop push-ups, within the next 75 days. Friday, April 30th, is the target date. That should be close to the time that Taylor
Yes!!! I’m fired up! I’m excited, this is going to be great!
*The following was written about an hour and a half after the portion above…
When you post something on-line, there’s a point in the process where the entry has been typed and all that remains is one key stroke in order for the post to be published for all to see. I’ve been sitting for a few moments, now, contemplating that one remaining key stroke. Do I really want to make this public? Really? This is going to require lots of work. Lots and lots of push-ups. (And other exercises, too, according to Paul.)
What if I go through all this and when I reach the deadline, I can’t do the 100 push-ups…and everyone knows about it? Hey, that’s a lot of push-ups. It’s not easy, try it some time. If I make this public and then can’t do it, that will be embarrassing. People will point at me and call me a “girlie-man”…the whole time I’m delivering my sermons.
I could still delete this story, right now, and retreat back to safety. I could call Paul and tell him I changed my mind. I could explain that I had too much sugar again this morning, and I was on a mild insulin rush. I could hold my back and talk about discs being out of alignment…or something like that.
Or, I could hit this one key—this key that’s staring at me, right now, mocking me—and force myself into this project.
Do I really want to do this?
Do I really want to put this pressure on myself?
Should I have ever even mentioned this scheme to Paul Romano? (Those of you who know Paul know that I may have permanently sealed my fate by bringing this idea to his attention.)
Well, if you’re reading this post, it’s obvious what I’ve chosen to do. Wish me luck, there are lots of push-ups in my future.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” Hey, a little prayer can’t hurt, right? “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…”
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