#1898 The Ice Bath

I’m typing this from Room 517 at the DoubleTree Inn in Houston.

It’s 8:51 a.m. Central time on Day 2 of the Southwest Chess Championships.

Emerson is currently 3-0 in the U2000 division and tied with one other guy for first place.

LET’S GO!

I’m proud to say that I’ve been diligently and joyfully (!) performing my wingman duties with excellence.

And…

Emerson just helped *me* with executing MY protocol.

Quick recap of the morning so far…

After FaceTiming with Mommy and Eleanor, we went for a little walk to get some early AM sun. Then we came back and did my opening series together—a little 3- to 5-minute series of yoga-ish movements I’ve done basically EVERY MORNING for well over a decade that ends with a sun salutation and my first set of burpees for the day.

It’s awesome to do it with him.

I tell him EVERYTHING is more fun to do with him.

I also tell him that if I was traveling and staying in a hotel and had a super busy day—which I tend to have when I’m traveling!—I would have done a total of 10 sets of 11 burpees and that would have been my workout for the day. As it was, we just did our first 3 sets of burpees for the day—walking back and forth in the room between sets.

We’ll do 3 sets of 11 burpees before his two matches of the day as part of our pre-match protocol—with 13 in the final set to make sure we hit 101 total burpees for the day just like we did yesterday and just like we will tomorrow and just like we’ve done before EVERY SINGLE ONE of the ~150 tournament matches he’s played over the last 2 years.

If there’s an 11-year-old kid with a more precise pre-match chess protocol out there, I’d like to meet him or her. 😆

But…

That’s not quite the point of this +1.

This is…

After we hammered the last set of burpees I asked him to help me get some ice from the ice machine on our floor. He’s ALL IN. He grabs the plastic recycled grocery bags I keep in my travel bag for such purposes and we head out to get some ice.

I hold the bag while he presses the button then he takes the full bag and runs to our room and dumps it in the bathtub that was already full of water from yesterday’s ice bath. Then he runs back to take the next bag.

We repeat that a few times.

The bath is now filled with ice that’s not melting—a good sign it’s appropriately freezing.

😲 🥶

As I watch him race back to help with the last bag, I tell him: “You know… We named you after Ralph Waldo Emerson for a bunch of reasons and you embody one of my favorite quotes of his.”

He’s looking at me with a smile.

I continue: “Ralph Waldo once said: ‘Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with ALL your might. Put your WHOLE soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active. Be energetic. Be enthusiastic and faithful and you will accomplish your objective. NOTHING great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.’”

Then I said: “That’s JUST LIKE YOU! You do EVERYTHING with so much joy and enthusiasm. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

He beamed.

And…

THAT’s Today’s +1.

Two parts…

First, let’s MODEL what that level of enthusiasm looks like for our family and friends and teammates.

Second, let’s make sure we NOTICE and CELEBRATE the virtues we see in our loved ones and teammates (who, if we’re doing it right, are ALSO our “loved ones,” of course!).

Whether that virtue is enthusiasm and joy or creativity or a sense of humor or playfulness or grit or kindness or gratitude or any of the range of virtues we aspire to embody and recognize.

One of our Heroic members (what’s up, @Robin! 🙌 ) inspired me to create a Heroic Target in my Love protocol called “I See Virtues in Action.”

I literally just got out my batphone, tapped on “Practice” and then tapped on my Love Identity of “You’re a Good Wingman!” and just Target swiped that now.

I See Virtues in Action. 🎯

It’s Day 1.

We’re ALL IN.

Here’s to channeling Emerson’s (both of them!) enthusiasm and…

LET’S GO!!!