My step-daughter has just finished Year 8 at school and has taken a couple of options for creative subjects for next year before her full option choices for GCSEs going into Year 10.
She, slightly surprisingly to us, has chosen Drama as one of the two options.
Surprising as we hadn’t particularly realised that she was enjoying that more recently and liked the idea of doing some school performances.
And I reminisced about the one time I was in the school play in seniors.
My sister was in her final GCSE year then and doing Drama (and has now been a Drama teacher for over 20 years) and played the main part of the non-biological mother Grusha in ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ by Bertolt Brecht.
Super abridged, it’s about two women who both claim ‘mothership’ of a boy called Michael.
I played “The Big Boy”.
Because I was massive compared to most then (there wasn’t much acting required).
My friends Simon Betteridge, Laurie Baker and Danny Buckle were on rotation as ‘The Fat Boy’.
Betty (Simon) was then called ‘Fatty’ for the rest of school with few knowing the origin of the name (he wasn’t remotely fat).
In the final scene of the play the judge, Azdak, orders Michael to be placed in a chalk circle and both mothers to pull on him.
“The true mother, Azdak states, will be able to pull the child from the centre. If they both pull, they will tear the child in half and get half each.”
The biological mother seems happy to, you know, murder her child.
Grusha not so much.
You know, because, she’s not mental.
The judge gives Michael to Grusha because she obviously cares more about the child.
The plan worked.
But, let’s face it, it was a rubbish plan.
Just because a plan works, doesn’t mean it’s a good plan.
Something we fail to realise sometimes.
We develop ways of doing things that work…………..
At least in some ways………….
And keep doing them………….
Even though they’re not really the best plan.
Or even a particularly good one.
We develop ways of eating that don’t serve us well.
That might be convenient and enjoyable in the short term…………..
But lead to a net loss in energy levels, happiness, mood and more.
We keep doing them because we’re used to them.
We’ve practiced ourselves pretty efficient at it.
Even though the better plan isn’t really all that much more effort.
The effort mainly being in the ‘change’.
If we’d made those changes years ago, we’d be massively up on the deal.
And, if we’re tactical, we can probably do it with no actual increase in physical effort.
Only our internal resistance to that perceived ‘restriction’ to challenge.
We’ve developed plans over the years that kinda work.
In some ways.
But, like relying on one person not being a pyscho that would happily tear a child in half, they’re not really all that good a plan.
This summer shall we try a better plan than previous years?
One that still involves enjoying what we do, just as much.
But doesn’t lead to that net loss in energy levels, happiness, mood and more?
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Much love,
Jon ‘Notorious B.I.G.’ Hall
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
