Goines On: Getting Goines going

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Goines felt anything but physically ready as he approached the electrical box where he usually did at least one of his two sets of push-ups. But he had to try, if only to confirm that he wasn’t up to it...or to discover that maybe he was up to it, that maybe he could get going this morning, however his body felt. Might he, for example, even do his two sets of 50 push-ups with only, say, a minute’s break between them? Usually he’d walk another quarter-mile or so before doing the second.
    Well, he would give it a go. The first 50 push-ups were a snap, which in itself surprised Goines, given the way he had so far felt on his walk. He waited almost a minute before trying another set. These push-ups were much harder straight off the bat, and he managed only 45. He might have attempted to go on struggling to 50, but he didn’t think he could do even one more. He stopped. Good enough.
    Was something being revealed to him in this? Was the secret to getting going simply to get going?
    But didn’t he already know this? He had referred others to William James numerous times.

Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.

    Or now, he might quote his old IBM colleague Paul Frommherz, of whose demise on December 8 three years ago he had been reminded the previous morning by an email from Legacy.com:

His wry sense of humor and penchant for puns will be missed by many. As he was fond of saying, “You have the kind of day you want to have.”

    Goines smiled and made a dedication, pushing those 95 ups to Paul.

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