The Altimeter (Stronghold)

Eight Pax, took the Daily Red Pill (DRP) this morning and got better

The Pax: Nuke (F3 Birmingham), Guile (local pax, F3 name in Birmingham), T-Bone, Flying tomato, Aruba, Josey and Scout (Q: Squirrel)

The Scene: Chilly and pretty nice for late December

The Thang: 

• A quick lap around the AO and back to the basketball courts for the Warmup consisting of; SSH, Windmills, Good mornings and arm circles

Mosey to field by basketball courts

1st set: 45 reps each

• Start line: American hammers In Cadence
• Other end: Monkey humpers OYO
• Mode of Transportation: Bear Crawl 

2nd set: 40 reps each

• Start line: Heels to Heaven In Cadence
• Other end: Seal Clap Merkins IC to 10
• Mode of Transportation: Crab walk

3rd set: 35 reps each

• Start line:  LBCs In Cadence
• Other end: Overhead claps
• Mode of Transportation: Crawl Bear

4th set: 30 reps each

• Start line: Flutter kicks In Cadence
• Other end: Lunges
• Mode of Transportation: Karaoke

5th set: 25 reps each

• Start line: 4 count Freddy Mercury’s
• Other end: Squats
• Mode of Transportation: Bear crawl

6th set: 20 reps each

• Move to wall: LBDs In Cadence
• Still on wall: Bulgarian Split Squats
• Transportation: None

Cirque du Soleil Abs

 

Announcements/Prayer requests:

1. QSource….who’s in?  Plan is to meet Tuesday’s after Outpost.  Location TBD, but working on it.  Kicking the year off along with the F3 Nation Pax
2. 1 January, the Hunt for the Chupacabra begins at the Piranha AO
3. 2 January @ 1745 (5:45pm) Ruckers Island will have a soft launch at Aberdeen Lake
4. 4 January @06-0700 2023 Goal Setting at Emmanuel Episcopal Church Parish Hall  350 South Ridge St. Southern Pines
5. 7 January @1400 Schlitz is leading a rucking team (or two) on the Star Course starting.  Cranmer Dr, Raleigh, NC 27603
6. 7 January, 5-9:30ish pm, F3/FiA Christmas Party – Mark your calendars and tell your M and bring your favorite holiday hors d’oeuvres!  Event this year is sans 2.0’s

Flying Tomato led us out in prayer .

 

MOLESKINE:  The Altimeter

The human brain accounts for ~2% of the body weight, and yet consumes ~20% of glucose-derived energy.  It is always firing – searching for something interesting.  Find a headline that piques the interest?  Keep it, dig into it.  Boring? Release it.  These “catch and release” thoughts occur in the temporal lobe.  There is a problem though – social media.  Those people, who lead this tech area, have developed algorithms that have us reaching for the smartphone / tablet / device every time it bings or bongs.   We are constantly fed “interesting information.”  We essentially evolved into the next example of Classical Conditioning, otherwise known as Pavlov’s theory.  When the phone bings or bongs, we pick it up and…..scroll and scroll and scroll.  We scroll, click, laugh, and grumble without thinking.  

This also relates to the business world.  It is unlikely that social media is the distractor.  The professional is distracted by the sheer amount of emails, or sales information that bombards us, or the myriad of supply chain options available to us now.

How many of us have observed someone face down walking into traffic or a couple at a restaurant sitting across from one another with both of them face down, swiping – clicking – scrolling?  Sad?  Sure, they are proximate, but the two in the booth are not present to one another….or to what they are looking at.

Many years ago, I was new to skydiving.  In Army terms, we performed High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jumps.  It was here I learned a life-long lesson of being present.

One morning a group of us walked down the spine of the building, having just returned from a morning of jumping.  Laughing at how a jumper exited the aircraft and tumbled like a 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood, or experienced his/her rucksack fly them instead of being in control, or how cool the incredible joy of linking up in the air.  

As we enjoyed retelling the stories, I glanced at my watch and kept walking towards the dining facility.   Three seconds later, one of our instructors stopped me and asked, “what time is it?”  I looked down to look at my watch and he grabbed my wrist.  He continued, “You just looked at your watch.   Tell me what time it is.”   I was flummoxed.  I did not have an answer.  

    *Bonus points for anyone who recognizes the watch from a movie!

 

The instructor hammered home the point.  “Be present!”

 

In skydiving, the jumper wears an altimeter on the wrist, similar to a watch.  When an individual skydives, that jumper must know the altitude before and after maneuvers.  If one does not have altitude awareness – PULL IMMEDIATELY!  Awareness of one’s altitude remains paramount to survival in skydiving. Falling to the ground at speeds up to 200 MPH while failing to pay attention to your altitude will not end well.  Don’t put me in the place to pick up the (literal) pieces! So, what really happened that day walking to the dining facility?  My brain registered interest in the ‘diversions’ of the conversations around me.  Fast forward 20+ years and I see many people engaged through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and every other social media app bombarding us with interesting, attention-grabbing posts and videos. Click – chuckle – swipe.  Here is an interesting fact – the average attention span on social media?  8 seconds.  

So, what is wrong with some mind-numbing memes?  Nothing, probably, if done in moderation.  I am not above John or Jane-Q Public.  I caught myself in this cycle too.  Hearing the bing or bong, snatching up the phone, reading the catchy headline and then inferring the meaning of it all.  We make decisions based on information we do not even know is true.  “I’m too busy to get into the weeds on this.” or “It’s just wasting time.”   We allow ourselves to be distracted.   Rather than “catch and release,” we have become desperately hooked, like a fish on a line.  We are distractedly scrolling more than ever.  

How can you bring presence to our everyday world?  

• Do not allow the outside noise to become a distraction
• Set your intention of presence before your feet hit the floor in the morning
• Remind yourself throughout the day of your intention.  Use doorknobs to remind you.  Touch a doorknob, think presence
• Extract yourself from the continuous stimuli. Disconnect from the electronics
• Get face-face with someone 

 

The world needs you.

 

Be present.    

 

Aye!