Approaches

“Attack life. When you drink a beer, drink the hell out of it,” UltraBob suggested the other day. And that got me thinking.
How do you approach life? Do you go slowly, savoring all the details? Do you rush through activities to get to the next thing? Do you hang back from participating, preferring to critique everyone else? Do you jump in with gusto and enthusiasm? Glide through with style and grace? What other ways are there to live?
I think that most of us vary our approach depending on the situation. But what if you tried to live your life all one way? How would things turn out? Let’s take an evening at home and run it through a few different ways:
Savor – You stash away your bag and coat and run a hand across the empty hangers to hear them jangle together. You stroke the dog gently, noting the silkiness of her ears and the rough patch of hair at the base of the tail. At the table, you contemplate every bite, compare flavors and pair wines to courses. Dinner lasts three hours.
Rush – You drop your bag and coat on the floor and put something in the microwave to cook. Dinner is on the table ten minutes after you arrive home. There is no way to shovel the food in fast enough and it’s all swallowed without chewing. Then the TV is on and you’re comatose.
Critique – After noticing that the closet needs to be rearranged you stand in the kitchen and offer advice while someone else cooks. The dog whines at the back door, eager to go for a walk and you complain that someone should have walked him earlier, but you don’t take him out yourself. When dinner is served, you eat little more than a small taste, then suggest improvements.
Play – You wad your coat into a ball and toss it into the closet for two points. You race the dog around the house and tickle everyone you meet along the way. During dinner, your prawns dive into your water glass, you sculpt with fruit and fold your napkin into a hat.
Attack – You drop your bags and coat on the floor and embrace everyone in the house. You play with the dog until the stick you’ve been wailing across the yard breaks a neighbor’s window. At dinner, table manners are cast aside so that food can be eaten with the utmost enthusiasm. “Hand to mouth” takes a new meaning. You drink the hell out of your beer.