Mad Musings | Mad Musings of Rupert Lawson

1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward

by Rupe | Apr 13, 2008 | Mad Musings

“Fall seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” – John Quincy Adams
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Chinese Proverb
“Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never.” – Winston Churchill
“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson

These quotes all say the same thing. No matter how many obstacles you run into, what matters is that youâ€™re able to overcome each of them, one at a time.

“Two steps forward, one step back” is usually a negative term to describe someone who is having trouble making progress. But switched around, “1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward” means that instead of grousing or feeling guilty about a misstep, you can still come out ahead if you put your head down and push forward.

Steps back can take many forms: a family vacation, breaks in your routine, personal tragedies, injuries, or that lost weekend in front of the tube. A big mistake people make when trying to get healthier is that when they fall off a bit or something happens, they think they “have to start over”. Wrong! When missteps do happen, a better strategy is to simply take two steps forward. Youâ€™re still ahead of where you were before, far beyond the starting line.

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Wives Do More Housework, Husbands Do Less after Marriage

by Rupe | Apr 6, 2008 | Mad Musings

By Alice Turner

A new study has found that on average, after marriage the wife dedicates seven hours per week more to housework, while husbands do on average one hour less of housework.

“It’s a well-known pattern. There’s still a significant reallocation of labor that occurs at marriage — men tend to work more outside the home, while women take on more of the household labor,” said in a statement Frank Stafford, of the university’s Institute for Social Research (ISR), who directed the study. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children,” he added in the statement.

I can hardly see the situation “worse” for women. It’s quite clear that men and women have different preferences and men tend to work more outside the home while women have a tendency of doing more housework. This is hardly a matter of culture but rather a psychological difference which goes far back to the beginnings of mankind and will not go away anytime soon. Also, the study found that both genders did more around the house after exchanging vows.

It was quite interesting to find out that while married men worked more inside their home, by an average of one hour, before they got married, unmarried women worked less than any other category of women. Married women with at least three children do around 28 hours a week, nearly threefold compared with their husbands’ 10 hours.

The study, which was federally-funded, is based on time-diaries and questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of men and women over a 10-year period between 1996 and 2005.

Hitting That Big Old Wall

by Rupe | Apr 6, 2008 | Mad Musings

How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Stopping
— By Julie Isphording, Olympic Marathoner

Just about everyone has heard of the “Wall,” as in “hitting the wall.” And lots of us – in running and in life – have run straight into it. Head on.

A wall is the point in a race (or in life) where you’re used up. You’re officially done. You feel as if you are draining away into a little puddle on the ground. Your legs don

‘t respond to the word “go.” You vow never to do this again.

Although I hope you never have a wall get between you and a goal, here are some tricks I’ve learned from running that can help you get over your own wall when it’s in the way:

Keep going regardless
Promise yourself that, no matter what, you will press on, even if you are walking, crawling, or puttering. In the Boston Marathon in 1993, I was running so slowly to the finish that I felt like I was actually going backwards. Stay on your feet. Eyes straight ahead. Move.

Don’t think
Just go. Do not dwell on how overwhelmingly awful you feel. Focus on the cheering crowds, your friends and family waiting at the finish, the cool water, the trees… anything.

Try bribery
Tell yourself, “Self, when I get done with this, I’m going to buy you a new car, a new house, whatever you want.”

Word-watch
Watch the negative words and thoughts. Think instead about all the successes you have had. How about all those hills you conquered? All those long workouts you endured? You are a great person. Relish those thoughts.

Negotiate with yourself
Give yourself permission to simply go to the next water stop, or to the next milestone, or even just the end of the day. Keep repeating that strategy until you see the finish line. Just one more mile before you say one more mile!

If it was easy, everyone could do it. You are the one who will make it. And don’t forget the finish line pose!

Hitting That Big Old Wall

by Rupe | Apr 5, 2008 | Mad Musings

How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Stopping
— By Julie Isphording, Olympic Marathoner

Just about everyone has heard of the “Wall,” as in “hitting the wall.” And lots of us – in running and in life – have run straight into it. Head on.

A wall is the point in a race (or in life) where you’re used up. You’re officially done. You feel as if you are draining away into a little puddle on the ground. Your legs don