on showing up

There's this absurdity called showing up that everyone is obsessed with.¹

There are many tropes to showing up, exemplified by the following rhetoric:

• Success is showing up every day.
• Show up and you're halfway there.
• Show up as the real you!
• I showed up for a year and look at me now!
• I am not [insert fancy title] yet, but I would imagine it as simple as showing up!
• This is unemphasized.
• ...

Sure. We get it.
Showing up matters.

It is not the when, where, how, much rather the what that we should most be worrying about. Then—and only then—should we worry about authenticity, consistency, and the rest. After all, one may show up dutifully, or sensationally, or authentically, for the wrong things.

As for the other things, the ones beyond out interests and intentions? Aren't they exciting?

I feel that I need to show up for everything that comes my way if I am to keep up.

There's a reason you don't see people like Max Verstappen at every single race event in the world. They don't do more things "well". They do less things incredibly well. And so should we. Embrace the joy of missing out.

Life’s better when you’re missing the stuff that doesn’t matter anyway.