Guest Post By A Nimble Man – Josh Hanagarne

You’re in for a surprise today—a guest post by my cyberfriend and blogger colleague, Josh Hanagarne. About a month ago, I happened across this kind, strong, and twitchy guy, who also has access to tons of books as a librarian. How cool is that? Talk about nimble! I’ve kept my eye on him ever since.

The thing about Josh that drew me to him: not only is he an engaging and often hilarious writer/blogger, he is also a master at juggling his diverse interests.

I asked Josh to write a guest post for Jane Be Nimble about how he manages to be a Kettlebell fanatic, excellent librarian, father, husband, musician, successful blogger, storyteller, and (fill in the blank…).

Something you’ll also learn from visiting Josh’s blog is that he has learned to accomplish and balance all this while he also lives with Tourette’s Syndrome. Read one of my favorite posts at WSL.

Without further ado, enjoy this guest post by Josh Hanagarne. Please sign up for his feed, he’ll certainly keep you smiling and help to support your nimble life. And, thanks, Josh, for writing this excellent post for JBN.

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What A Nun And A Discus Throwing Champion Taught Me About A Balanced Life

By Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian

One of my favorite people in the world happens to live about 15 minutes way. Dan John is a legendary strength coach, a brutally strong man, and one of the smartest people you could ever hope to meet.

At a recent kettlebell workshop, Dan gave some advice I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Now I’m trying to practice it in my own life.

I heard it from Dan, Dan heard it from a nun decades ago, and although I’m not sure where the nun got it from, it makes good sense.

Four Areas Which Should Receive Equal Attention

There are four areas in everyone’s life that should be given equal attention. Keep in mind that if any of these four areas receive a disproportionate amount of our time, our lives and balance suffer.

Play

This one should be self-explanatory. And yet, when I ask people what’s going on in their lives, I’m staggered at how rarely they mention anything “fun.”

Work work work. Go go go. Ambition, goals, bottom lines. Eyes on the prize. The older I get, the more life seems to be speeding up. The last thing I want at the end is to open my treasure chest of memories and seen nothing but 12-hour shifts and neglected family duties.

Make time for fun or pay the consequences.

Pray

It’s reasonable to believe the nun was talking about the traditional idea of praying to a higher power. Dan expanded this idea to include any sort of “alone time.”

Meditation. Yoga. Long walks. Time spent thinking, wondering, reading, stepping outside yourselves and away from your duties.

The mind is an increasingly noisy place. It attracts clutter and unchecked clutter deadens our senses and creative abilities.

Take time to clean your head out, whether it means praying to whomever or whatever you worship or twisting yourself into a pretzel during a yoga class.

Work

This needs little elaboration. We work because for most of us, our labor is what we have to sell. It’s how we take care of our families. It’s hard to live without some money. Work is how we get money.

But at what cost?

From the Pearl Jam song “Soon Forget”

Sorry is the fool who trades his love for hi-rise rent.
Seem the more you make equals the loneliness you get.

I don’t have enough money to know whether that’s true, but we all know people who work too much.

I personally lump my physical training into the work category. If your job doesn’t require hard physical exertion, you have to get it on your own.

Work (and work out) as much as you like, as long as it is in proportion to the other areas we’re focusing on.

Rest/Recover

With the world revving at such a high RPM, rest sometimes seems an archaic concept. But pushing too hard for too long takes a toll. Chances are, you know this because you’ve either been there or you’re there right now.

Get enough sleep. Drink enough water. Eat enough of the right foods and as little of the wrong foods as possible without compromising your sanity. Blink more often. Shut off the computer for a while. Take some deep breaths.

Take time to recharge or risk hitting the wall sooner rather than later.

Perspective

Think about it. If you spend too much time on one of these four areas, can you see how potential negative consequences?

You can’t spend all your time praying or you’ll become a hermit.

You can’t spend all your time working or Pearl Jam will write a song about you.

You can’t spend all your time resting because first you need to do something worth recovering from. Otherwise you’re just being lazy.

You can’t spend all your time playing or…well, you get the picture, right?
Anything else is not balance, but something that begins to resemble obsession. Perhaps an obsession with being balanced is what we need.

I know it’s what I need. I’ve seen it.

About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog with advice about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, book recommendations, old-time strongman training, kettlebells, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates and stay in touch.