Bungee Jumping From The Bed

Some mornings, before my feet even touch the floor, I reach for my phone.

News. Messages. Headlines. Alerts.

Without quite noticing, I move from sleepy stillness to something else entirely —

as if I’ve gone bungee jumping straight out of bed.

Nothing dramatic has happened.

And yet my system is already running.

What’s striking is not the thoughts themselves.

But how quickly they begin colouring the emotional tone of the day.

Or perhaps more accurately — how quickly I begin reacting to them.

Watching the Olympics, I’ve found myself noticing something similar.

The physical performances are astonishing, of course.

Strength. Precision. Endurance.

The visible result of years of disciplined, repetitive, unseen effort.

But what holds my attention just as much is something less visible.

The composure at the start line.

The reset after a mistake.

The steadiness under expectation, pressure, and consequence.

Not the absence of internal noise.

But the ability to move skillfully in its presence.

There’s something quietly familiar here for leaders.

A headline.

An email.

A difficult conversation anticipated before breakfast.

And suddenly the day feels accelerated before it has even begun.

I’m beginning to notice that mental fortitude is not always loud or dramatic.

Often it looks like awareness.

The small, almost invisible moment of recognising:

“My system is already racing.”

Before the racing becomes the day.

Noticing does not remove pressure.

But it sometimes alters the relationship to it.

And that, quietly, can shape everything that follows.

Paul