Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Delete to Strengthen

Ah yes, Mrs. Reminschneider. How I do remember her even if I can’t quite remember how to spell her name. She holds the distinction of being the only teacher to ever crack me across the knuckles with a ruler. Totally uncalled for, of course. I was innocent, really. So, I must admit that I don’t have too many fond memories of the old girl whom I am sure has gone to her reward since she was at least 100 way back when I had her for Journalism 101 at Towson High.

However she had a phrase that has stayed with me and even gains in veracity as the years fly by. “Delete to strengthen,” was her mantra. Not words to live by if you get paid by the word but certainly good advice if you are writing a news article or if you find that you are trying to pack too many things into too little time.

Delete to strengthen meant that extraneous adjectives and phrases were not necessary to tell the story of an event. They should be saved and used judiciously when you some day write The Great American novel. In much the same way, we really don’t have to pack our lives with so many activities that we almost stroke out if traffic delays us going from one thing to the next. You know it’s time to reassess when you see a horrible accident and your immediate reaction is frustration because you are going to be delayed. This is the time to see if deleting a few things might actually strengthen your life.

Last night I left my office and was waiting at a traffic light to make a left onto Padonia Road. The light changed and a full 3 seconds later a car ran the red light and made a turn in front of me. I had hesitated because I have learned to expect people to make wrong choices when driving. I suspect that way too many of us have personal “tunnel vision” and have lost the ability to see the cause and effect results of our actions. The driver was someone I recognized, she goes to my gym and must have been late for a workout.

I, too, was going to be late for a 7:00 p.m. meeting but fortunately for me and Mrs. Commish we have “deleted” some of the things we once tried to squeeze into our schedules and thereby have “strengthened” the things we choose to do. Waiting those few extra seconds saved serious damage to my car and possibly even saved our lives. Thank you Mrs. Reminschneider from whatever level of Hell you now dwell within.

Twenty years ago I would have tried to squeeze in a workout, rushed through it, showered and run out to race towards this meeting that we “had” to go to. As soon as that light changed I would have been into the intersection trying to get a jump on traffic as I raced to the next traffic light. For me, that is no way to live. Even though I look forward to working out and even feel like I have missed something when plans change and I can’t go to Brick Bodies as planned, I now find that it makes sense for me to do fewer things but get more satisfaction and enjoyment out of the things I do.

Simon and Garfunkle once said, “Slow down, you move too fast; got to make the morning last, just kicking down the cobblestones, looking for love and feeling groovie.” Do fewer things, enjoy the things you do more fully, and feel groovie, man. Or simply, “DELETE TO STRENGTHEN.”

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