Quirkbag Collection #42 – 02.05.26
Franz Kafka left behind the idea that “the meaning of life is that it stops”. Sombre, but forever true. So much of our lives is focused on doing something for an end goal we think is ‘good’. We even forget other things exist. We complete trivialities that don’t ultimately add to the richness of our life story anyway as part of life.
Yet, there are also infinite games in life that we can play. These are ‘goal-less’ activities that don’t offer conventional, external rewards but instead require you to see intrinsic value in them. And we can persist to play them for fun; because we’re humans.
Afterall, what we really have at the end are the experiences we tell as stories and the impact we made on others. Everything else fades.
Being more adventurous, I have started a bunch of new experiments in playing the infinite game. They are done purely for the fun of the pursuit, or for cultivating patience and persistence.
Doing Calisthenics (Sorta)
Yes, that weird body pose you see people do is actually not that easy. You think you could do it if you tried and when you actually try, you have a humbling moment. I was humbled when I tried the crow pose for the first time.
Gym-goers understand the necessity of discipline to keep training for the desired body growth. It’s easy to just ‘hit the gym several times a week’. With calisthenics, there’s a twist. Mostly, you ‘fail on every single attempt, every single session’, until that one random try where you accidentally hold a position for one second. Unlike regular weight training, you can’t see progress easily or linearly with calisthenics. It’s a ‘trust in the process’ game.
Precisely because there is no ulterior reward to practicing calisthenics, you have to do calisthenics for its own intrinsic reward. It’s an atelic pursuit with no ‘end’. You do it as a means of self-cultivation.
Mastering your own body weight is like a snail lifting its own shell. Not only does it take tremendous effort to move and balance your body in new ways, progress is painstakingly slow. It’s the ultimate undertaking to hone your patience, your discipline and your inner persistence.
Talk about building consistency, just try learning a crow pose by practicing it every single day. (I didn’t know I would bruise my triceps.)
I Knock On Doors
Besides calisthenics, the next best way to train your patience and frustration tolerance (a phrase I learnt from Alex Hormozi) is facing rejection after rejection in sales, similar to failing in calisthenics.
Recently I started doing door-to-door sales. Knocking almost 100 doors per day, I see first-hand what 50% open-rates and what 1 to 2% conversion rate actually look like. Ironically, I don’t find it gruelling to face these rejections.
Here’s where it gets kind of whacky. Because I aim to learn communication skills and train my patience, persistence and frustration tolerance, knocking on doors is another infinite game to play. There is no limit to how much I can persist because there’s always the next door.
The amount of experience and depth of cultivation is proportionate to the number of doors knocked. It’s never guaranteed that the door opens. But it is guaranteed that I might face another rejection.
Of course, I won’t play it forever. No one should. No one will. We all fade back into the cosmos one day. But while we are here, this infinite game can be our companion so long as we see our growth, cultivation and even adventure in doing it.
Like Walking On Water – Surfing
It’s more than a cool activity. At least that’s what observers think. It’s surreal to watch, like a tightrope stunt. But hearsay from surfers, and this is hearsay, surfing is even more surreal from the surfer’s perspective.
They always feel free, connected with nature and above all mortal worries. That is until they drop into the water.
I tried surfing at TRIFECTA in Orchard recently. Constantly falling is the best way to get over the fear of falling. Failing is the best way to benefit from the infinite game. Unlike most sports, the meaning is to enjoy and be in the moment rather than ‘win’ a match. You don’t surf to win. You already win when you surf.
Surfing, like walking or drinking tea, is an atelic activity. You don’t surf to commute…unless you work remotely under the waves. Neither do you surf to gain recognition from your boss…which does not make sense. Surfing is an adventurous experience which is non-exhaustible (so long as the laws of Physics persist, and I think they will), even long after you are gone.
Every fall from a surf is like another brush of persistence. You keep at it until surfing becomes natural, an endless option open to you to cultivate appreciation and patience. And in the meanwhile, you get to look good doing it.
I Ask: “What’s The Point?”
I always loved that question. It’s a very ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ type of question, layered with confusion and a dash of judgement. What is the purpose of playing all these seemingly endless games in life? Pursuits that sort of go nowhere?
It piles loads of perspective and capacity onto your character. Growing up in a very goal and task oriented environment, this question was my mini Occam’s Razor. The answer must be definite and clear. I eliminated everything else and cut through all the BS. But maybe it was too effective for a teenager.
I never bothered to explore. Never bothered with serendipity. Not even with life’s possibilities.
If you have read Sahil Bloom’s “The Five Types Of Wealth”, then you might remember telic and atelic activities. I had plenty of telic activities. Everything was a means to an end and nothing else mattered. Not even making new friends or trying new things. Atelic activities are things that society places least value on. Things like staring at the sky, or taking a walk. They are things which are done for their own sake, not as a means to an end.
Trying things like calisthenics, surfing and other self-pursuit activities taught me that there are things worth doing on their own, regardless of outcome. The satisfaction it brings is innate, and cannot be taken away. It’s self-assuring, and it helps you understand yourself as a person.
Plenty of infinite games exist, if you choose to play them. There are activities or habits you can try for their own sake without needing a ‘return on investment’. The real value is self-imposed because it gives you new perspective and persistence training.
Say “Now That’s Interesting…”
Yet another rather ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ question, but a better one. Instead of trying to chase something vague, for the immediate future, chase something real and tangible – something that makes you say “that’s interesting”.
Trying surfing was an entirely serendipitous idea, much like the theme of my blog. It was something new to me. Seeing the way people literally walked on water and glided in front of the waves was really cool for a city boy.
Trying new things with the only aim being to learn something from the experience led me to commit to calisthenics, a surfing lesson and even practicing sales. It’s a strange mix of experiences, much as life is for so many people, but they are all valuable in piecing together the adventure of our life story.
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Hi! I’m Zac, the guy behind this serendipitous, quirky blog. I’m currently on a quest to find out more about myself before Uni begins – who I am and what life has to offer. This blog is my little space where I step out of my comfort zone to share my thoughts and life experiences. I hope you enjoy reading the weekly posts. Share them if you like, or not.
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