Senses

Four Corners Quad Keyah Series Lesson #2

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To get to the Four Corners Monument where this race series was staged, I chose to fly into Albuquerque then drive four hours to Colorado. This being my first time in New Mexico, that drive was quite breathtaking. It felt like I was on some amusement park ride. One scene after another left me saying “Wow” over and over again.

Roughly an hour into the drive, I started sneezing. At first I didn’t think much about it. But when I was sneezing about every three minutes, I was puzzled. I’ve had allergic reactions in the past that started like this, but this made no sense.

The next two hours were miserable. Short version: I used every available tissue in the rental car and stopped to get some allergy meds. Nothing was working.

Until, I put on a toboggan cap. Seriously, it was like magic. This Southern boy only had a toboggan in his bag assuming it would come in handy when potentially running in sub-20 degrees. Who knew it was necessary while riding in the car? (The toboggan was swag from running in Naperville, IL, by the way.)

Lesson Number 2: Never underestimate the impact of exposure. Left unaddressed, illness results.

There are many reasons we experience exposure. Ignorance-ours and the other party. Inexperience-mostly ours. Pride or Curiosity-100% ours. Manipulation-purposeful other parties, some intentionally harmful. 

Some are very subtle. You hardly notice what’s happening. Some are gradual, so they appear unnoticeable. Others-like sneezing attacks-leave little doubt something’s wrong. 

From my experience, whenever the exposure is revealed the sooner the response the better. Just like learning to respect the cold’s effect to exposed skin, awareness of all exposures requires swift response. Repeated small exposures are like paper cuts; over time they add up. All the harmful exposures to our senses matter. And every exposure matters.

As for the large exposures that leave traumatic canyons, they cannot be ignored or considered irrelevant. Reality, they won’t be. They will find a way to be addressed. The injury requires healing by something more than a beanie.

I have a new respect for my toboggan cap. I also have a deeper appreciation what it means to be exposed.

Dude…You’re in the Restroom…at the rest stop

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(An “Own It” series for Dudes)

This month I’ve been doing quite a bit of driving. Trips have been anywhere from three to nine hours in length. Therefore, I’ve had reason to make a few pitstops. One such stop was memorable. It was a rest area in PA.

Frankly, PA has nothing to do with it. I’ve experienced the same scenario before, but in a different way. In the other scenarios I wasn’t actually in the room, so not the same experience. I’ll get back to that.

The experience has to do with dudes and their phones. Before you go there, no dude’s phone got dunked…not this time. Water wasn’t involved. 

When I walked in, there was a dude in the first stall. While a couple others of us “rested,” the dude in the stall’s phone rang. And, you guessed it, he answered it. Not only answered it, but he was still carrying on the conversation when I walked out.

Dude, you’re in a stall…using the restroom…at the rest stop. Doing business while doing business isn’t something the rest of us need to hear, see, or filter through any of our senses. For us other dudes, please observe the following manly restroom and phone pointers:

  • If your phone is your business line, consider yourself out of the office for a few minutes when you enter this “not private” office. For that matter, for your customer’s sake go ahead and declare that for all restrooms.
  • If you know that the ringing of your phone is simply irresistible for you to ignore, leave the phone in your vehicle. Most likely, you’ll get finished faster as well as get back to your phone and the highway more timely.
  • If the restroom becomes somewhat of a man cave for reading or playing games on your phone at your actual office or home, keep it that way. Get in and out at the rest area. Here’s a suggestion: pretend you’re at the stadium and it’s halftime. There’s a reason why reading materials aren’t provided.
  • If you must carry your phone with you for reasons for which you probably need to see a counselor, let all calls go to voice mail. People really don’t expect you to answer 24/7. They get it. They most likely won’t get it when they hear flushing and other noises from the other business guys in the room.
  • And back to that other thing, don’t be that guy…the guy that has to answer, “In the restroom,” when asked by your caller, “Where are you?” Your caller doesn’t need that visual. Again, senses.
  • Finally and seriously, own your phone. Don’t let your phone own you.