Climbing Mount Everest, Waiting in the TSA Line, Drinking a Gallon of Water

I was listening to NPR in the car this week, and a quick little story tickled my interest.  A woman who is an avid climber broke a bone and looked at a long recovery.  She wanted to find a way to ensure she did the work to get better and had the idea to turn her boring physical therapy into a training regiment for climbing mount Everest.  A goal she did not previously consider.  This year she summited mount Everest. She said that after the Everest Climb she expected to want to relax but not so much.  The success has given her more drive to take on new challenges.

I had a similar insight about my physical therapy a few years ago.  I wanted to get well after surgeries and a long illness.  My goal was to create a fitness lifestyle to roll my physical therapy into a personal project. Three years later, I realize my goal to get better was not specific enough. This week  I modified my goal to be able to swim in the ocean, and a specific habit to help me get there.  My new routine is to drink a gallon of water every day.  That is about five huge red solo cups.  It's not precisely climbing Everest, or my lesser personal goal of being able to swim in the ocean.  But drinking that much water is something a fit person who swims would do.  I am finding the water drinking easier to accomplish as part of my plan to do something new.  I don't want to give up on the person I am becoming, a swimmer.  I am willing to modify what counts as a win on my journey. Cheers!

• Another goal of mine was to write a post every week, this week marks my 52nd post.

What I am reading this week

The way the world really works |  Vaclav Smil

I am still reading this book from last week and thinking hard.

I read a chapter about threats to our mortality.  According to the book, we invest a great deal of effort in fending off threats that are slightly less likely to kill us than the average chance of dying of normal causes.  Storms and tornados get big press, but they don't kill many people.

He points out that while we can't believe someone would continue to live and rebuild in the same spot after a devastating storm.  However, based on the unlikely repeat of the same catastrophe, it's not unreasonable for a tornado survivor to rebuild their smashed house in the same spot. Knock on wood, because the chances of getting hit by a storm again don't merit a second thought.

Personally, I remember one of the reasons I sold my house in Tacoma WA in the shadow of the Mt. Rainier volcano was a healthy fear of the effects of the volcano going off.  According to the facts however, I was overreacting to a threat that would not likely kill me or damage my home in my lifetime.  

Cell phone radiation, same story.  More effort should go into stopping drivers from using the phone while driving over stopping 5 G antennas. "Don't text and drive is not as news worthy as fear of 5G.

Also, TSA crossing guards at busy intersections would save more people than patting down the general public at LAX. Honestly, look at all the people getting on planes, they can't even follow instructions to put their stuff in a scanner bin let alone mastermind a highjacking.