Brighten04
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My daughter sent this to me in email and I thought you might want to share it with others who are raising children. People spend so much time in the fantasy world of media, they forget the simple steps that we have to take every day to have a successful life.
“Chop Wood, Haul Water”
By John Leonard
In my office is a metal bucket filled with water. And a log with an axe attached to it.
They are there to remind myself and our staff, of the ancient Chinese wisdom that ALL OF LIFE is about “chopping wood and hauling water.” And that is true whether you are a rural peasant in china, or a stock broker in Manhattan,
Or an actress on Broadway or Hollywood, or a teenage swimmer in Davie, Florida.
What does it mean?
It is a reminder that 99% of real life (as opposed to media, movies, TV) is repetitive, very similar, and hugely mundane. What the ordinary person might use the word “boring” to describe. (But I urge you not to….)
Since our children are surrounded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with MEDIA, which typically portrays life as exciting, stimulating, materialistic and an endless source of “new and different”…..it’s a clash with reality. Life is just not TV or the movies. And when our children are “set up” to believe that, they truly think they are going to be continually “stimulated” and “someone else” is going to provide that.
As adults, we know that NOTHING is further from the truth. And we do our children a huge disservice when we knowingly or unknowingly aid and abet that conception.
Going to school every day, or work every day, or practice every day or caring for your pet every day, or doing your homework every day, or cleaning your room every day, or washing the dishes every day, or taking out the garbage every day, IS NOT endlessly exciting and it surely is not DONE FOR US!
So for the Chinese (as for us) most of every day is simply “Chop Wood, Haul Water”. Chop wood so you can stay warm and cook food. Haul water so you can drink and wash. The everyday things that make life possible. And while they are NOT exciting always, they certainly get very exciting when we are cold, hungry, dirty and thirsty when we don’t do them.
As parents and coaches, the lesson of Chop Wood, Haul Water, is to get into being the best wood chopper and water hauler we can ever be….make it interesting, honor it, and recognize that without it, life does not exist. So, the lesson we should teach is that CHOP WOOD, HAUL WATER is what allows us to be successful. The daily struggle to do ordinary things, extraordinarily well, is what makes champions in life and sport. The mundane things that make life work is what makes us successful. Get GREAT at doing them. That’s the lesson we must convey to today’s children, whom the world is daily trying to coerce into believing a fantasy that does not exist, but does serve to put a lot of money in a lot of marketers pockets.
Chop Wood, Haul Water. It IS satisfying and it DOES make us successful.
All the Best,
Coach John
Visit Us Online at: http://www.swimfastteam.com/
SwimFast
961 SW 5th Place
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
(954) 684-3024
“Chop Wood, Haul Water”
By John Leonard
In my office is a metal bucket filled with water. And a log with an axe attached to it.
They are there to remind myself and our staff, of the ancient Chinese wisdom that ALL OF LIFE is about “chopping wood and hauling water.” And that is true whether you are a rural peasant in china, or a stock broker in Manhattan,
Or an actress on Broadway or Hollywood, or a teenage swimmer in Davie, Florida.
What does it mean?
It is a reminder that 99% of real life (as opposed to media, movies, TV) is repetitive, very similar, and hugely mundane. What the ordinary person might use the word “boring” to describe. (But I urge you not to….)
Since our children are surrounded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with MEDIA, which typically portrays life as exciting, stimulating, materialistic and an endless source of “new and different”…..it’s a clash with reality. Life is just not TV or the movies. And when our children are “set up” to believe that, they truly think they are going to be continually “stimulated” and “someone else” is going to provide that.
As adults, we know that NOTHING is further from the truth. And we do our children a huge disservice when we knowingly or unknowingly aid and abet that conception.
Going to school every day, or work every day, or practice every day or caring for your pet every day, or doing your homework every day, or cleaning your room every day, or washing the dishes every day, or taking out the garbage every day, IS NOT endlessly exciting and it surely is not DONE FOR US!
So for the Chinese (as for us) most of every day is simply “Chop Wood, Haul Water”. Chop wood so you can stay warm and cook food. Haul water so you can drink and wash. The everyday things that make life possible. And while they are NOT exciting always, they certainly get very exciting when we are cold, hungry, dirty and thirsty when we don’t do them.
As parents and coaches, the lesson of Chop Wood, Haul Water, is to get into being the best wood chopper and water hauler we can ever be….make it interesting, honor it, and recognize that without it, life does not exist. So, the lesson we should teach is that CHOP WOOD, HAUL WATER is what allows us to be successful. The daily struggle to do ordinary things, extraordinarily well, is what makes champions in life and sport. The mundane things that make life work is what makes us successful. Get GREAT at doing them. That’s the lesson we must convey to today’s children, whom the world is daily trying to coerce into believing a fantasy that does not exist, but does serve to put a lot of money in a lot of marketers pockets.
Chop Wood, Haul Water. It IS satisfying and it DOES make us successful.
All the Best,
Coach John
Visit Us Online at: http://www.swimfastteam.com/
SwimFast
961 SW 5th Place
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
(954) 684-3024
