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Terms of Enfearment: Don't be afraid of the Circus (Circuits) !

        No, it's not a typo, I do mean "enfearment", a slight modification of "endearment" -- slight change of one letter but quite a bit difference in meaning. Let me explain...As you know (if you're a loyal reader, if not, you'll just have to take my word for it or wander back through past posts), I've written many times here about one of my favorite topics, anxiety, which also answers to the name of fear, which has redemptive value for our well-being, especially when 'calibrated' (see April 19th post, among others). And, of course, I've actively encouraged you to consider the value to your well-being of (rigorous) exercise, including but not exclusive to the pandemic period. Finally, if you're even an occasional reader of this blog you 've grown accustomed to my penchant not only for alliterations, but also mash-ups, of mixing metaphors.

5-19-14, Life's a Circus ("don't be afraid"), Send in the Clowns𝅘𝅥𝅯: The 'circus', or anything else that makes you nervous, scared, tendency for avoidance...Despite his extensive Naval service, including that as a SEAL, Admiral William H. McRaven disclosed just a bit of wariness as he approached the graduating class of the University of Texas, where he was invited to be the featured commencement speaker. This was in part based on his own lack of recall of the commencement speaker when he was graduating from UT almost four decades earlier (e.g., "would they even remember what I have to say and do they really  want to hear what a SEAL has to say?). Well, luckily he took some of his own advice ("...ten things from Navy SEAL training all college grads need to take with them..."). Specifically, lesson #5: "Don't be afraid of the circus...there will be times you will fail..." In SEAL training, if you (and your team) were on the losing end of a rotation, you were 'invited' to the circus, which was code for additional rounds of intense physical conditioning (AKA 'calisthenics') at the end of the day, when you were already exhausted...the cumulative experience of which ended up making McRaven and his team (unexpectedly) STRONGER...Lots of people, on the other hand, are afraid of clowns, not so much when they are at the circus, but when they encounter them unexpectedly, such as in Stephen King's writings..."Send in the Clowns" is a song about disappointment and ironies, and I thought it was a good fit, when I am writing about the irony of embracing the circus, as an appeal for physical and mental fitness...

Softening the blow, name your game, never the same...diversity training: Perhaps you'll find it helpful, as I do, to actually use terms of endearment when encountering a physical challenge, in overcoming your initial fear or disdain for specific exercises (or mental tasks, or even chores around the house). While an imperfect analogy to McRaven's "circus" for calisthenics, I have several examples of  euphemistic names for various circuit/HIIT ("high-intensity interval training") workouts...such as "That's odd" (for a workout incorporating an odd number of reps for five different stations, a pretty intense workout)..."Drenched on the bench, bell of the ball" (a workout with bench press, kettle bell, and stationary bike, with 19 sets, lasting about 75 minutes, after which my body screams for food!)..."Step up and shrug your shoulders" is another circuit incorporating a stepper and shoulder lift of the leg portion of my weight bench, very creative, lots of fun...and sweat! "You blockhead...in the study, with a steel pipe" (an outdoor workout utilizing cinder blocks and a heavy gauge steel pipe which act as outdoor weight set, the total cost of which was about 18$...the "blockhead" reference is from an old episode of "Charlie Brown" and the "in the study with a pipe" from the game "Clue"...see how much fun you can have? Notice the variety, diversity being one key to sustaining a long term workout plan. On the other hand, don't ever, ever name your cane if you're coming back from an injury or surgery and have to rely on this temporary assistive device--while you might come to appreciate its support, you don't want to become attached, so NO term of endearment here.

Putting it all together, Hungary for action: Nope, I spelled it correctly, dear editor--Hungary, as in "Hungarian traveling circus stays fit for post-COVID opening..." after a state of emergency scared off the circus in Hungary only a day prior to the troupe was to begin its spring season last year, and pandemic restrictions limiting events and gatherings have resulted in no income for all the circus performers ever since. Talk about fearing the circus, send in the clowns...PLEASE!