Swords vs. Sporks #265

In our last couple +1s, we stepped into our World Champion You Training Camp.

If you take even 20 seconds to actually think about that, you realize just how INTENSE of a commitment that is. (Right?)

Now, we’ve talked a lot about activation energy and the fact that, for example, nothing happens when you rub two sticks together and create 100 degrees of heat. Or 200. Or 300. Or even 400. You need to get to the magical tipping point of 451 degrees. Then? BAM! Let there be fire!

All that’s nice, but I got to thinking that a World Champion Training Camp is a LOT hotter.

Then I thought of a sword.

Enter, Google search: “At what temperatures are swords forged?”

Enter: Result #1 via HowStuffWorks.com (thanks, guys!): “No matter which type a bladesmith uses, the desired result is the same: To heat the steel to the proper temperature for shaping the sword. Steel becomes red hot around 1200 to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit and glows orange at about 1800 F.”

Wow. 1,500 to 1,800 degrees. That’s hot.

And then there’s the pounding required to forge the perfect blade.

(Which reminds me of Rumi’s parallel wisdom: “This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace to extract the silver from the dross. This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.”)

Then, I thought to myself, “Hmmm… Wonder what it takes to make a spork.” (You know, those handy-dandy plastic spoon-forks? 😀 )

Those guys? You only need around 500 degrees to mold the plastic into a perfect shape for eating food you probably wouldn’t be eating at a World Champion You Training Camp. (Hah.)

So…

Today’s +1. What are you forging — a sword or a spork?

How can you joyfully turn up the heat and pound a little more today?

P.S. Know this as well: That sword is forged by ALTERNATING the extreme heat of the fire and the cold of water. We need to be intensely ON and intensely OFF, remembering that Growth occurs during the Rest that follows the Stress.

Here’s to oscillating and forging our best selves!