...And What Do You Do?

About a year and a half ago I was at a local gathering and not unlike most social interactions, as the small talk went the question came up, "And what do you do?" The normal understanding is that you will answer with your current job position. This is standard in almost all social settings, business related or personal. Even if the answer is, I'm between jobs right now, it's still expected that the person will respond in regards to their work status.

When they asked me, it seemed like within a second all of those thoughts flew through my mind and my answer came to: I run OCR's. (For those of you who for some reason prefer not to get dirty on the weekends, OCR = obstacle course race) THAT is what I do. That is what feeds my thoughts daily. Sure, work is there and I do it. At the present time, it isn't my favorite thing but even in many past positions when I enjoyed my job greatly, that was not how I defined myself. I am one who loves obstacle course racing and my son, preferably together. So my response to their question was, "I run OCR's. I have a wonderful 8 year old who does the same thing." (At that time he had a 5K mudrun under his belt along with a couple of Kid OCR's). My son and racing, that is who I am, that is what I do.

Needless to say they had a surprised look on their face. They asked what that was. I explained what OCR is and it seemed they immediately changed their thought process. We quickly moved away from the humdrum of work and into a more personal realm, a more exciting area for everyone.

And what do you do? I fly around forests carrying a log. 

While I am proud of the things I've done in my working career, I'm more passionate about what I've done and what I aspire to do as a dad and OCR runner. Would I rather talk about the next legislative item that will impact my business or how to best train for a multi-grip rig? What would you rather talk about? Football or spreadsheets? Shopping or the schedule for employees? Granted, some people love their job and that is what they do and there is nothing wrong with that. For others, they are movie watchers, foodies, cheer moms, singers, artists, and a litany of other things.

And what do you do? What moves you? What are you passionate about? If you didn't have to go to that 9 to 5 tomorrow, what would you do with yourself?

Whatever it is you do, answer with that next time and see how they react. See where the conversation goes. Also a suggestion for something to do: get outside and GET SOME!