Given a choice, most people would prefer to be in rhythm, than out. There is a joy and peace with being in step with the beats that surround you. You are not fighting against the flow. Unfortunately, it often isn’t your natural state. It takes work to maintain a beat or to keep in rhythm.
Lately, I’ve been suffering from some syncopation in my life, especially with my lovely wife. We’ve been together nearly 20 years, so it’s not that surprising that there are times when we don’t see eye to eye. I arrived in Virginia to find the intensity of our syncopation had increased. As we are visiting a house full of family, it wasn’t the ideal place to work things out.
What we did do each day was start the day with a walk. Today, to my surprise, I noticed we were in synchronicity. For much of our walk, my every step matched hers. We rounded a corner early in our walk and an older gentleman was walking about 80 feet in front of us. Three miles later, he was exactly 80 feet in front of us. We didn’t look to match his pace, it just happened. At seven in the morning, the birds were doing their early morning singing. They made her smile. That made me smile.
Life is a complicated rhythm. There are so many beats we can keep or try to follow. It is only natural to come in and out of rhythm when we aren’t paying close attention. It is quite rare that it is an effortless process. I know what beat I want to keep and follow. I fly home today knowing that I need to give it considerably more effort to not fall behind or suffer from syncopation, because I enjoyed that feeling of synchronicity.
I was working on a poker strategy article for beginners today when I came to the 10th and final tip - Keep Notes. For those of us without photographic memories, this can't be stated strongly enough. It has saved or earned me untold sums by having previously typed or had notes on a player. The online realm is an anonymous world and any efforts to gain clarity is extremely helpful.
The November Nine are set. They have to wait 111 days to return to play for the nearly $9 million dollar top prize. While we wait, I am left wondering if it's worth it. Over 70,000 entrants from 117 countries put up about $200 million dollars to play for their share of fame and riches at the 2010 WSOP. Under 70 of them won bracelets or get the fame accorded with being part of the November Nine. What percent of the thousands returned home profitable? Is the journey more valuable than the destination?
There are waves of them, young and hungry male poker players. They have played a ton of hands online and are now applying themselves in the biggest most prestigious live tournaments. Sure, there is a chance for a token older fellow like Dennis Phillips or Darvin Moon to occasionally make it, but it just isn't going to happen much. These young guys are aggressive. They like to make bold moves. They have stamina. Sure, women in poker made strides in 2010, but against the waves of these young men, they don't stand much of a chance in the massive fields of the Main Event. For every one that falls or runs bad, there is another that is more fortunate.
Do you ever watch a competition or sporting event without having someone or some team you pull for? For me, If I don’t care about any of the participants, it is very hard for me to watch. I naturally want to root for one of the parties. If I don’t care for any of the competitors I would rather not watch. It’s like a primordial good versus evil thing inside me. For the competition to be compelling it needs to have a protagonist and antagonist. I don’t have to have long standing feelings to arrive at that determination, either. It can be relative, meaning, prior to this day I didn’t particularly pull for either team, but paired against each other, I prefer one to the other.