Just Because You Do One Thing One Day...

The typical office of a business owner from the late 1990s. One person, many, many roles. Here in 2023, most jobs nowadays are like this, whether you're a self-employed, a parent, scientist, truck driver, CEO or janitor, one person, you're one person with many roles.


Just because you do one thing one day, doesn't mean that you lose everything else.


I've never believed in the idiom, if you don't use it, you lose it. This seems to me to be a statement of some ignorance, though in all fairness, there are some ways that it does apply, but never as a universal rule that fits every situation.


Sure, if you're into fitness, chances are if you don't exercise or you stop using your body at least once every three days with deliberate exertion, your body is going to adjust accordingly. You'll lose a little bit of muscle mass, and gain a little bit of fat based upon your metabolism and calorie intake, but you won't lose your musculature altogether and with a little bit of focus and effort you'll be back on track in no time.


Now, if you already know how to swim, and you don't swim for a decade or two, chances are if you jump into a pool, you won't drown if you still have the use of all the same body parts you had when you learned how to swim.


Much the same, if you know how to ride a bicycle, and years or even decades go by and suddenly one day you find yourself having to ride one again. Chances are you'll do just fine, because you don't simply lose what you don't use. Your ability might deteriorate a bit, but you'll never lose it barring some accident that affects your brain or your motor control (your limbs).


So, if you're into fitness, exercise, jogging or something of that nature, if you go a day and don't exercise for that day, but involve yourself in other activities. Working behind a computer or at a desk, or as a driver, that doesn't mean that you simply lose all of the benefit of being into exercise.


Much the same, if you work doing intellectual acrobatics of some form, you won't lose your ingenuity or prowess simply because you choose to exercise rather than do something more cerebral. Don't let anyone lure you into that kind of thinking.


From a professional standpoint, many people in the modern world wear many hats when active in their chosen vocation. For instance, you might be employed professionally as a driver. A truck driver or perhaps driving a taxi or bus. When you finish that work, you might have other work and professional ambitions at home that require you to be many things.


Many small business owners operate under many roles not limited to being CEOs, web developers, salespeople, accountants, human resources managers and janitors. So simply doing one thing for a day, doesn't mean you lose the accreditation of all those other roles you perform on other days.


Just ask any modern parent how many roles they have in life and you'll likely get an earful and then some to spare that include not only their professional lives, but their innumerable responsibilities as parents. Those are skills that stay with them for their whole life.


So, if one day you simply decide you're going to do nothing but house work, and then relax for the rest of the day, that doesn't mean you lose all of those other things that you do that are a part of your life and acumen.


If you're the owner operator of a truck, and you drive all day, that doesn't mean that you aren't also the CEO of your own company, and the sales person, accountant/book-keeper etc. You don't lose those things simply because you only performed one of your roles that day.


There is a bit more to this concept, but I'll save that for when I'm writing the next few chapters of The Butterfly Dragon III: The Two Dragons or finishing A Lady's Prerogative: SAPCHoP.


My point in case is that simply because I spent the last week working mostly on coding, and upgrading my skills training via a number of great courses online, with Udemy being at the forefront, that doesn't mean that I lost my ability to write. I'm writing this post after all, aren't I? 


It don't appear to be to much with gramer or spelling errors ;-)

(Author's correction: It doesn't appear to have too many grammar or spelling errors)


Get my point? If you don't use it and its a skill or ability you have or had, that doesn't mean that you lose it.


I can't help but think of all those lonely people in retirement homes who've spent their lives in many roles throughout their careers, simply losing it all just because they're no longer performing that function anymore. They've lived and loved in more ways than most of us have yet to live ourselves. I'd be willing to bet you that if you went and spoke with any number of them at length about their lives, professional and otherwise (including as parents), you'd probably have a lifetime's worth of knowledge to gain from listening. I'm sure that most all of them would say that you have to live your own life, and learn from your experiences, while learning from what others share with you and most of all to be mindful of what you take in.


So, if you don't use it, that doesn't mean that you lose it, unless of course you're referring to habits you deem to be destructive to your person and being. In such a case as bad habits, not using them is certainly losing them.


When it comes to your past, your memories, skills and abilities, not using them doesn't mean you lose them though. You might however want to maintain your body and mind, with occasional exercise for either.


When it comes to your bad habits - what is truly bad for you either according to science and medicine or by your own measure of what is good for yourself, they're gone from the moment you cease having anything to do with them, and ever more so the longer you go without.


So don't let people play you on that aspect of your life, like they're going to take from you what you don't use that day, including your own identity. 


Well, I've got to get back to coding, education and later a bit of fun with a movie or a video game, but I might put get something new to A Lady's Prerogative and The Butterfly Dragon within the next week.


Have a great evening and I might see you tomorrow for another post or an additional chapter or two.