Choose It And Use It (The Friday Ficks S6 E16)

At a wedding a few years ago, I was seated next to the bride’s Uncle Bob. One of his gifts to the

newlyweds? A bathroom plunger with a note taped to the handle: “Especially for you!

Sometimes you have to get the CRAP out of the way.”

Funny? Kind of.

True? Even more so.

Because if we’re being honest, a lot of us are clogged up right now.

The pressure is real - financial stress, constant uncertainty, global unrest and endless noise

competing for our attention. It’s no coincidence that experts now recommend routine anxiety

screenings for adults under 65. That tells you something about the world we’re living in.

But it also raises a harder question: What are we doing about it?

Too often, not much. We carry it. We suppress it. We power through. Meanwhile, the buildup

continues.

There’s a line from country artist Jackson Dean about having “a head full of noise and a

hundred different things he’s trying to avoid.” That’s not just a lyric - it’s a reflection of how many people are living.

Which brings me back to Uncle Bob.

He’s owned a bike shop for over 30 years, and as we talked, we landed on something simple

but powerful: movement is medicine. For me, cycling is the plunger. It clears the buildup. It

creates space. It resets the system.

Your plunger might be different. A long walk. A hard run. Time in the garden. A quiet moment

with a journal. Yoga. Swimming. Music. Prayer. Laughter.

If you don’t clear the clutter - mental, emotional, physical - it won’t stay quiet. It will accumulate. And eventually, it will block you.

It doesn’t matter what your plunger looks like.

It matters that you choose it and use it.

Own the day. Own the weekend.

Carl