Rule Three Is Nonnegotiable

Several careers ago, I worked with college students in a residential setting.  Over time, I developed two rules to help make that community work, and later a third one was added because there seemed to be some confusion.  The rules are:

1.     Be kind.  (This is my daughter-in-law’s positive reframing of the original, which was “don’t be a jerk.”  I like Sam’s version better.)

2.     Use your good judgment.

3.     No sangria ever, under any circumstances.

(That third rule became necessary after a party resulted in a bathroom situation that looked like the scene of a mass murder.  Sangria apparently is antithetical to rules one and two and prevents a person from abiding by them.  Just don’t go there.  It will be all right.)

I thought of these rules recently as I went to do my heavy lifting workout.  I got the Olympic bar all set up in the power rack with my warm-up weight for squats and then when I put the bar on my back, my shoulder did a thing.  It wasn’t a catastrophic thing.  It was a twingy sort of thing caused by the position.  I could have pushed through it, but I would have ended up in violation of rules one and two.  It would not have been kind to myself and it is bad judgment to do stuff that is likely to cause something twingy to get worse.  (I really never worry about violating rule three, especially at 8 in the morning on Saturday.)

It is surprisingly hard sometimes to stop working out.  We like to achieve stuff.  We like to be tough and powerful.  We are trained to admire sports professionals who play through injury.  I am not suggesting that we all turn into delicate flowers who refuse to do anything lest we break a nail.  I am saying that it is also important to be smart.

Working out our brains is also useful.