Consistency more than Intensity

"Love is more about consistency than intensity."  I heard that from a commencement speaker at my niece's graduation last week.  She had gleaned it from TikTok.  (She also noted that meaning is rarely where you expect it to be…  I agree!)

Consistency vs intensity.  I have wrestled with that dichotomy since I was young.   As someone who people might describe as dramatic, I tended to look for the grand gesture, the sledge hammer breaking rock rather than the 100 year drip eroding it.  I remember my disappointment when my father told me that it took six months to go from out of shape to peak fitness… and two weeks to go the other way.  (Fortunately, once into shape, a few hours a week is all that is needed to stay there.)  For general fitness, consistency is definitely much more important than intensity. 

But this idea of consistency over intensity flies in the face of so many of the stories I read or watch.   Intensity reigns in Hollywood.   Movies are based on intense moments and events often lived by intense characters.  Social media… all media!... thrives on immediacy and consequence, the very definition of urgency. 

A Daily Dose of Friendship

Consistency is more about mundane things... habits, rituals, just being together day to day. That's where the WCY shines. Coming here is not like hitting a home run after six strike outs. We strive to hit singles here, day after day. We are more like the baby aspirin you take every day to prevent cardiac arrest than the heart surgery you have after it. Coming to the WCY is more about smiling at people in the halls, saying hello, maybe offering to hold the door. It's swimming one more lap, not ten, lifting 5 more pounds, not fifty. Every day. (That's the kicker, isn't it!)

Sometimes, you may see me in the weight room or gym or pool. I am trying to do my little bit every day, too!

This is definitely a practice, not a done deal! I invite you to join me in it. 

I hope you have a consistently great, mundane day!