Optimizing Life

I fear this entry may sound a little trite and perhaps even painfully obvious to many, but I figure that’s okay, that shouldn’t really deter me, as you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to. So here I go:

Due to various injuries, travel, and plenty of crappy weather, this year my partner and I haven’t hiked as much as we like to. Recently we decided to ease back into things with a spontaneous sunny-weather post-work hike. Having completed a 45min ascent, not yet at the summit but acutely aware of the sun dipping on the horizon, we figured it was time to turn around and head back down. We were a bit miffed that we didn’t make it all the way to the summit, but were enjoying ourselves all the same. So as we were winding our way back down I mentioned that our climb wasn’t so bad, although we didn’t make it to the summit, it was far nicer than being in a gym, and at the very least we got a nice cardio workout going up, and we’re getting a decent strength session on the way down. My partner agreed, paused, and then said “yeah, but if we were in the gym we would have done the strength component first, followed by the cardio, so as to optimize our workout.”

I paused (mentally anyway), and thought on this. Frankly, I was a bit taken aback by the comment, for whatever reason it was one of the last things I imagined as a response. And yet there it was. And there, in the pause it caused, was my epiphany: You can’t optimize nature. You just can’t. You can’t optimize life; it comes the way it comes and that’s all there is to it. I was so enthused a big grin spread across my face. You just can’t optimize life. Why hadn’t I gotten that before?

Now, I don’t mean this in a fatalistic way, not in the slightest. My realization had more to do with understanding, really understanding, that life doesn’t happen in the gym (figuratively speaking), or in any sort of controlled environment. You may know a better or more idealized method for living, or handling a particular situation, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to use it. It may not be applicable to the reality of the setting. And at the end of the day, you just can’t optimize that.

I’m not suggesting that we all sit back as passive agents as life just trods along past us. To the contrary. The epiphany wasn’t about that, it was about understanding that you just can’t optimize everything. Life comes the way it comes, and if you accept what it is, you can see more clearly what can be done with it. Optimize your climb, optimize your descent, optimize your company, or optimize your mentality, just don’t waste your time trying to optimize the direction of the mountain, that’s the way nature made it. I’m not saying don’t hope for more, or different, and I’m not saying don’t pack your bags and go find a canyon if that’s what you are actually looking for. I’m saying don’t start digging up the mountain to make it fit your life. Consider what is in the realm of optimization, and what is not. And then act from there.

I know that I’ve had this sort of thought millions of times before, and heard it spoken in myriad different ways, but for some reason the spontaneous way in which it came to me on this day just felt so profound, and so suddenly clear: You can’t optimize life, so just stop trying. Maybe I’m finally understanding the concept of “letting go” (a substantial challenge for a personality like myself). Or perhaps this is what is meant when people say that you should approach life with a “lighter touch.” I’m not entirely sure. But I do feel invigorated by this new perspective. And that my friends, seemed worthy of sharing.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But hey, I’ve put it out there, and now you can optimize it as you see fitting.