A Third Thing

In a recent issue of Poetry, Donald Hall wrote about the importance of having a “third thing” in life--something outside of family and work that added extra meaning to the day and, in so doing, brought greater stability, enjoyment, and passion to the whole of life.

Athletics has long-served as my third thing. I have many joys in life--baking, reading, writing, lounging around in omphaloskepsis--but it’s the concrete goals of athletics that really force me to focus, to carve out the time that really makes something a daily presence.

And nothing helps me to focus better than a race-too-far. Whether it’s trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon or finish an Ironman triathlon, such lofty goals (lofty for me at least) take a prime spot in my psyche and help anchor the whole.

It’s very easy to get sucked into the “importance” of work and the chaos (no quotation marks here) of family. Before you know it, you've become the monomaniacal Ahab hunting the White Whale--obsessed with checking email and perfecting the unperfectable course of the day with two young boys. The third thing of training gives me a mental and physical break from it all. It’s something to think about, and do, that has nothing to do with either work or family, and this ultimately helps me take work and family head-on with more creativity, verve, and happiness.