{"id":8790,"date":"2021-08-21T20:43:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T20:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=8790"},"modified":"2021-08-21T20:43:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T20:43:08","slug":"one-decision-that-changed-my-life-for-the-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/one-decision-that-changed-my-life-for-the-better\/","title":{"rendered":"One Decision that Changed My Life for the Better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week\u00adend, I attend\u00aded a sur\u00adprise par\u00adty for my younger sister\u2019s 50th<\/sup> birth\u00adday. The par\u00adty, host\u00aded by her hus\u00adband and best friend, was a great suc\u00adcess, most\u00adly because she nev\u00ader had a clue about it. Dur\u00ading the par\u00adty, I found myself among some of my sister\u2019s friends from high school. These women were a cou\u00adple class years behind me, and most of them hadn\u2019t seen me since then. One of her friends was chat\u00adting with me and oth\u00ader peo\u00adple from our school when, out of nowhere, she blurt\u00aded out to the oth\u00ader women at the table, \u201cChris has not aged a year! Not a year<\/em>! He looks exact\u00adly like he did in high school!\u201d She said this in an awestruck tone, got up and walked away shak\u00ading her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the par\u00adty, I kept think\u00ading about the woman\u2019s com\u00adpli\u00adment, and I\u2019d be lying if I said I wasn\u2019t deeply flat\u00adtered. Of course I have<\/em> aged since high school, but per\u00adhaps not as quick\u00adly or as severe\u00adly as oth\u00aders. I\u2019ve gained weight (I no longer have the 3% body fat I had back then); my hair is thin\u00adner and sil\u00adver now, instead of the lush auburn brown it once was; and over the past 33 years I\u2019ve strug\u00adgled with excess\u00ades and addic\u00adtions includ\u00ading mar\u00adi\u00adjua\u00adna and alco\u00adhol. (Thank\u00adful\u00adly, I\u2019m now com\u00adplete\u00adly sober, and have been for almost three years.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I con\u00adtin\u00adued to think about the woman\u2019s com\u00adpli\u00adment dur\u00ading the week, when I engaged in my fit\u00adness reg\u00adi\u00admen, which includes some vari\u00adety of the fol\u00adlow\u00ading: strength train\u00ading, run\u00adning, row\u00ading, lap swim\u00adming, ten\u00adnis, hik\u00ading, moun\u00adtain climb\u00ading, golf, cross-coun\u00adtry ski\u00ading (in sea\u00adson), and flex\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty and pli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty work. I also thought about my recent vaca\u00adtion alone to the seashore, where I\u2014sun-kissed, mus\u00adcu\u00adlar and drip\u00adping wet\u2014had a walk\u00ading-out-of-the-surf moment akin to Daniel Craig\u2019s in the James Bond movie Casi\u00adno Royale<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I did\u00adn\u2019t look this good, but it was close. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I relaxed at the seashore, engaged in my fit\u00adness reg\u00adi\u00admen, and mused about the com\u00adpli\u00adment that I haven\u2019t aged, I real\u00adized that the life I\u2019m liv\u00ading now is large\u00adly because of a book I read a long time ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was 14, I stum\u00adbled upon a book in my junior high school library that changed my life in innu\u00admer\u00adable ways. I can\u2019t remem\u00adber the book\u2019s title or author, but it was basi\u00adcal\u00adly an intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to Ancient Greek phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy, with empha\u00adsis on the teach\u00adings of Pla\u00adto. One of Plato\u2019s ideas (which I lat\u00ader learned was in his Repub\u00adlic<\/em>) made a deep impres\u00adsion on me. Pla\u00adto said that the Ide\u00adal Man (or cit\u00adi\u00adzen) devel\u00adoped both his intel\u00adlect and his phys\u00adi\u00adcal body to their high\u00adest poten\u00adtial, and that the two are bal\u00adanced; he is as strong and phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly capa\u00adble as he is smart and intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly well-round\u00aded; he is a schol\u00adar-ath\u00adlete. By exer\u00adcis\u00ading the body and cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading the mind through study, the Ide\u00adal Man even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly brings the two elements\u2014physical and intellectual\u2014\u201cinto tune with one anoth\u00ader by adjust\u00ading the ten\u00adsion of each to the right pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing some bicep curls on the \u201cpreach\u00ader\u201d bench.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I can still remem\u00adber exact\u00adly where I was when I read that. I was sit\u00adting alone on the school bus, rid\u00ading through a neigh\u00adbor\u00ading devel\u00adop\u00adment on my way home. It was an ear\u00adly sum\u00admer after\u00adnoon, close to the end of the school year, and I laid the book on my lap and thought about this idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pla\u00adto, recall\u00ading the teach\u00adings of his teacher, Socrates, explained why it was crit\u00adi\u00adcal that a per\u00adson should devel\u00adop both the phys\u00adi\u00adcal and intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal: \u201cExces\u00adsive empha\u00adsis on ath\u00adlet\u00adics pro\u00adduces an exces\u00adsive\u00adly unciv\u00adi\u00adlized type, while a pure\u00adly lit\u00ader\u00adary train\u00ading leaves men inde\u00adcent\u00adly soft.\u201d He also said that while there were many men who were intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly devel\u00adoped, and while there were many who were phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly devel\u00adoped, there were very few men in the world equal\u00adly devel\u00adoped in both areas. In oth\u00ader words, the Ide\u00adal Man was rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy\u00ading the cross-coun\u00adtry ski\u00ading in Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This idea was extreme\u00adly attrac\u00adtive to me at the time. I liked the notion of dis\u00adtin\u00adguish\u00ading myself some\u00adhow, of being spe\u00adcial, a rar\u00adi\u00adty. While I was very smart and fair\u00adly ath\u00adlet\u00adic (base\u00adball, ten\u00adnis, swim\u00adming, horse\u00adback rid\u00ading, Boy Scouts), I wasn\u2019t the smartest per\u00adson among my friends, and I wasn\u2019t the most ath\u00adlet\u00adic or phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly devel\u00adoped either. I had a friend (and still have) who was intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly gift\u00aded and showed incred\u00adi\u00adble apti\u00adtude for com\u00adput\u00aders. I had anoth\u00ader friend who was an avid weightlifter and body\u00adbuilder (and still is, I believe). But\u2014and this is why Plato\u2019s notion of the Ide\u00adal Man was so attrac\u00adtive to me\u2014I didn\u2019t know any\u00adone<\/em> who was both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That after\u00adnoon on that bus, I made a deci\u00adsion, a deci\u00adsion that I now see did more to pos\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adly influ\u00adence my life than any oth\u00ader. I decid\u00aded I was going to become an Ide\u00adal Man\u2014one whose intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal and phys\u00adi\u00adcal assets and capa\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties are bal\u00adanced and reach their high\u00adest poten\u00adtial. As some\u00adone who was very good at coin\u00ading new lin\u00adgo at the time, I even came up with my own term for this: \u201crugged intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adism.\u201d I decid\u00aded to make myself into a rugged intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read\u00ading and edit\u00ading on the back porch after my work\u00adout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After school that day I set up a small \u201cgym\u201d in the unfin\u00adished base\u00adment of the raised ranch where we were liv\u00ading, and I start\u00aded imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly with body weight exer\u00adcis\u00ades: pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc. I filled two gal\u00adlon milk jugs with stones and lashed the jug han\u00addles to a broom\u00adstick to cre\u00adate a tem\u00adpo\u00adrary, makeshift bar\u00adbell. Soon I got a weight set, bench and heavy bag and real\u00adly start\u00aded to make progress on my physique, so by the time I was 17, rel\u00ada\u00adtives who hadn\u2019t seen me in a while didn\u2019t even rec\u00adog\u00adnize me. I played ten\u00adnis and base\u00adball in high school, and I also did track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got to col\u00adlege, I immersed myself in my stud\u00adies as nev\u00ader before, start\u00ading as a foren\u00adsic chem\u00adistry major and even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly switch\u00ading to phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy and his\u00adto\u00adry. I had loathed<\/em> high school\u2014endlessly being told what to do, when to do it, what to study, and the point\u00adless hours of \u201chomework\u201d\u2014but in col\u00adlege, where I was encour\u00adaged to be self-direct\u00aded and self-disciplined\u2014I pos\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adly bloomed<\/em>. In addi\u00adtion to my required course\u00adwork, in my sopho\u00admore year (when I knew I was going to become a writer) I set out to read as many of the clas\u00adsics as I pos\u00adsi\u00adbly could. I real\u00adized I would prob\u00ada\u00adbly nev\u00ader again have as much time for leisure read\u00ading as I had in col\u00adlege, so I read the clas\u00adsics every chance I got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near my col\u00adlege in Boston, there was a book\u00adstore (I think it was one of the now-defunct B. Dal\u00adton Book\u00adsellers), which had an amaz\u00ading selec\u00adtion of qual\u00adi\u00adty, inex\u00adpen\u00adsive Signet and Pen\u00adguin paper\u00adback clas\u00adsics. Each Fri\u00adday evening, I would take one of my girl\u00adfriends to din\u00adner and the movie the\u00adater next door to the book\u00adstore, but before going to the movie, I would buy myself 4\u20135 new clas\u00adsics. I set myself a goal of fin\u00adish\u00ading one every two days, but some (like Can\u00addide<\/em> and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/em>) I tore through in an after\u00adnoon, while oth\u00aders like Anna Karen\u00adi\u00adna<\/em>, took me a sol\u00adid two weeks to fin\u00adish. I can still remem\u00adber the way the steeple\u00adchase scene in Anna K.<\/em> made my heart pound with anx\u00adi\u00adety for Anna and Vron\u00adsky, the pity I felt for Madame Bovary when (spoil\u00ader alert) she kills her\u00adself by poi\u00adson, the night\u00admares I had while read\u00ading the first 100 pages of Drac\u00adu\u00adla<\/em>, the moti\u00adva\u00adtion I felt to write when I read Jack London\u2019s Mar\u00adtin Eden<\/em>, and the wave of admi\u00adra\u00adtion and envy that washed over me when I read Fitzger\u00adald, Hem\u00ading\u00adway, or Stein\u00adbeck. I still have dozens of the 200-plus clas\u00adsics I bought back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My typ\u00adi\u00adcal bed\u00adside library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I went on to reach my high\u00adest poten\u00adtial intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly in col\u00adlege, grad\u00adu\u00adat\u00ading sum\u00adma cum laude<\/em> (5th<\/sup> in my class of 750) and Phi Beta Kap\u00adpa, but phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly I fell down in a major way. Idol\u00adiz\u00ading Jim Mor\u00adri\u00adson and Axl Rose, I drank way<\/em> too much (some\u00adtimes wak\u00ading from black\u00adouts in Boston alleys), smoked way too much mar\u00adi\u00adjua\u00adna, got involved with too many girls, and did very lit\u00adtle ath\u00adlet\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, this trend con\u00adtin\u00adued on and off through my twen\u00adties into my ear\u00adly thir\u00adties, when I was try\u00ading to get estab\u00adlished and choose my career path. I was a news\u00adpa\u00adper reporter for a few years, then a high school teacher, then a soft\u00adware com\u00adpa\u00adny co-founder, then a cor\u00adpo\u00adrate com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions man\u00adag\u00ader, then a col\u00adlege instruc\u00adtor, then a speechwriter\u2014and all the while I was devel\u00adop\u00ading my fic\u00adtion-writ\u00ading skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a typ\u00adi\u00adcal revised page looks like, after I attack it with the red pen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then, about 20 years ago, my wife encour\u00adaged me to quit my lucra\u00adtive job with Mer\u00adrill Lynch to focus full-time on my fic\u00adtion. I had just returned from a friend\u2019s wed\u00adding in Las Vegas and looked at pic\u00adtures of myself at the Grand Canyon. I was fat. I mean fat<\/em>\u2014espe\u00adcial\u00adly for a guy who, just 15 years ear\u00adli\u00ader, had had 3% body fat and the build of a vir\u00adtu\u00adal decath\u00adlete. I was fat and didn\u2019t like it at all. It sim\u00adply didn\u2019t fit with the vision I\u2019d had at 14 of becom\u00ading an Ide\u00adal Man. Around this time, I also devel\u00adoped a her\u00adni\u00adat\u00aded disc in my low\u00ader back from too much sit\u00adting and a seden\u00adtary lifestyle. So, I bought an expen\u00adsive ellip\u00adti\u00adcal train\u00ader and joined a gym. I start\u00aded hik\u00ading, cross-coun\u00adtry ski\u00ading and play\u00ading a lit\u00adtle ten\u00adnis again, and I weaned myself off the \u201ccom\u00adfort foods\u201d of my youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through my 30s and 40s I kept up my intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal pur\u00adsuits, although because I was also writ\u00ading my own books, I didn\u2019t have time to read a clas\u00adsic nov\u00adel every oth\u00ader day like I had in col\u00adlege. Instead, I kept (and still keep) a pile of a dozen books at my bed\u00adside and fin\u00adish one or two a week. In the last 20 years I\u2019ve read prob\u00ada\u00adbly 20 books that I con\u00adsid\u00ader game-chang\u00aders or works whose ideas have direct\u00adly ben\u00ade\u00adfit\u00aded me. These include Mas\u00adtery<\/em>, Atom\u00adic Habits<\/em>, War and Peace<\/em>, The Odyssey<\/em>, The Bible<\/em>, Wish\u00ades Ful\u00adfilled<\/em>, and Tom Brady\u2019s The TB12 Method.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, liv\u00ading up to that deci\u00adsion I made at 14 years old, try\u00ading to achieve bal\u00adance and my high\u00adest poten\u00adtial both intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly and phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, has been a 37-year strug\u00adgle. There have been a few occa\u00adsions along the way when the two lines have inter\u00adsect\u00aded (in eco\u00adnom\u00adics, this is called equilibrium)\u2014when I\u2019ve man\u00adaged to bring the two \u201cinto tune with one anoth\u00ader by adjust\u00ading the ten\u00adsion of each to the right pitch\u201d\u2014but usu\u00adal\u00adly achiev\u00ading my peak intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly has required me to sac\u00adri\u00adfice some on the phys\u00adi\u00adcal scale, and vice-ver\u00adsa. For exam\u00adple, when I\u2019ve been in the home stretch of the final draft of one of my nov\u00adels, I\u2019ve had to sac\u00adri\u00adfice sleep, work\u00adouts, food, companionship\u2014heck, even sunlight\u2014to get the work done. And when I\u2019ve been work\u00ading out intense\u00adly every day (say to train to climb a moun\u00adtain or to pre\u00adpare for X\u2011C ski sea\u00adson), I\u2019ve writ\u00adten few\u00ader pages on those days and read few\u00ader books in my leisure time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hav\u00ading just fin\u00adished my 1\/2\u2011mile swim\u00adming work\u00adout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which brings me to recent days\u2014completely sober; walk\u00ading out of the surf, tanned, cut and drip\u00adping wet; receiv\u00ading a com\u00adpli\u00adment from a woman that I haven\u2019t aged since high school; and receiv\u00ading com\u00adpli\u00adments from oth\u00ader women at my sister\u2019s par\u00adty about how much they\u2019ve enjoyed my novels\u2014and I\u2019m tak\u00aden back to that after\u00adnoon on the school bus when I decid\u00aded to become an Ide\u00adal Man, and I see that much of my life today result\u00aded from that one deci\u00adsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I look at my life, and I see that I\u2019ve done it. The intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal and phys\u00adi\u00adcal sides of my life are bal\u00adanced and in tune with each oth\u00ader. While many men my age are strug\u00adgling with weight issues, heart prob\u00adlems, hyper\u00adten\u00adsion, back issues, joint prob\u00adlems, dia\u00adbetes and\/or addic\u00adtions, I\u2019m in the best shape of my life since I was 17. (True sto\u00adry: the last time I saw a doc\u00adtor, while read\u00ading my chart and see\u00ading my pulse and blood pres\u00adsure stats, he said, \u201cExcuse me, Mr. Orcutt\u2026are you a triath\u00adlete?\u201d) Hav\u00ading tak\u00aden med\u00adica\u00adtion for my men\u00adtal health for almost 20 years, I now take zero<\/em> medications\u2014only the occa\u00adsion\u00adal aspirin or ibupro\u00adfen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I don\u2019t take any med\u00adica\u00adtions, I take a stag\u00adger\u00ading num\u00adber of dai\u00adly sup\u00adple\u00adments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while I know a few men in very good phys\u00adi\u00adcal shape, their intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal lives and achieve\u00adments have lan\u00adguished. I, on the oth\u00ader hand, have been a life\u00adlong learn\u00ader, con\u00adstant\u00adly seek\u00ading out new ideas and meth\u00adods to improve my results, and con\u00adstant\u00adly push\u00ading myself intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly to do more and achieve more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, I view my body not mere\u00adly as a sack of pro\u00adto\u00adplasm that car\u00adries my brain around, but rather as the machine<\/em> that makes good oper\u00ada\u00adtion of the brain pos\u00adsi\u00adble. I\u2019ve learned that when I\u2019m in great phys\u00adi\u00adcal health\u2014particularly car\u00addio\u00advas\u00adcu\u00adlar health\u2014I\u2019m able to think more clear\u00adly, and I can write bet\u00adter and for longer stretch\u00ades. I\u2019ve learned that main\u00adtain\u00ading the phys\u00adi\u00adcal machine<\/em> is essen\u00adtial for writ\u00ading well\u2014especially for the endurance writ\u00ading that I do of long nov\u00adels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m feel\u00ading a great deal of grat\u00adi\u00adtude late\u00adly for final\u00adly achiev\u00ading this bal\u00adance, and I want to thank my 14-year-old self for it. Not only did my 14-year-old self have the curios\u00adi\u00adty to seek out, read and think about these ideas of Plato\u2019s, be he also had the wis\u00addom to rec\u00adog\u00adnize a great, life-chang\u00ading idea, and the self-dis\u00adci\u00adpline and the resolve to decide to make him\u00adself in that image. That one deci\u00adsion has done more to pos\u00adi\u00adtive\u00adly influ\u00adence my life ever since than any\u00adthing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, thank you, Pla\u00adto, and thank you, 14-year-old Chris Orcutt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNei\u00adther pan\u00addemics nor mete\u00adors nor aliens nor root canals stays these word\u00adsmiths from the inevitable com\u00adple\u00adtion of their epic works.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week\u00adend, I attend\u00aded a sur\u00adprise par\u00adty for my younger sister\u2019s 50th birth\u00adday. The par\u00adty, host\u00aded by her hus\u00adband and best friend, was a great\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[591,7,13,233],"tags":[94,589,615,612,614,610,613,92,611,93],"class_list":["post-8790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hobbies","category-personal","category-writers","category-writing-life","tag-chris-orcutt","tag-fitness","tag-fitness-for-writing","tag-ideal-man","tag-physical-and-intellectual-balance","tag-plato","tag-working-out","tag-writers-2","tag-writers-life-2","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8790"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8821,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8790\/revisions\/8821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}