I've been drawn to fitness for a number of reasons over the years. There was a time I just didn't want to be 320 lbs. and pre-diabetic. Then when I achieved that goal, I wanted to look really good. These days what really drives my training and fitness is the desire to know and create myself.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Credit often goes to Aristotle for that quote. I read somewhere that attribution lacks accuracy. I don't care. I believe in its verity. If a person accustoms themself to sitting at a desk, eating cheetos and playing video games because leveling up in a fantasy world is easier than caring about their life, then they will reap what they sow. That's my own testimony and life story. Some of you knew me back in high school and college. You remember the fat slob. You know that I speak from experience.
You would also know that my life today doesn't reflect those habits. But I'm not where I want to be either. I want to experience real dedication and commitment. I want to create a courageous, daring soul that dives fearlessly into risks and continuously challenges himself to rise above adversity. By no means do I believe I have achieved anything more than the tithe of that glorious goal. I pursue fitness because I want to summon forth all that is heroic.
No doubt, I am influenced by Mark Twight's writing here. For years, the words "intrepid fighting spirit, the power of dispassionate intellectual judgment, and a robust disposition" have haunted me. I know myself better than any human alive. I know what I lack. And I know what I need. I've seen people quit and peace out when the going gets tough. I've seen fathers bail out, mothers turn to the bottle, older brothers and sisters turning their backs and migrating to greener pastures, teachers who didn't give a damn and bosses who are just whittling time. In my own personal value system, few actions disgust me more than surrender to difficulty, and I know how often I've given in to challenges.
But not only do I know my shortcomings, I also know the way out. The only way out is through. If I want a soul that doesn't back down from challenges, I must keep pressing through these challenges. And where do these challenges come from? I must create them. I can go to the gym and do 3 sets of 12 reps of bench press like the other normal people, talk about sports and women in the locker room and then coast through life on my better than average physique, smug and content like a normal person. I could do that, but I have no intention of rotting in the cage of a normal existence.
I want the best that this world has to offer. I want to have an amazing soul that pushes the limits of what a human can feel. I want to meet an amazing woman with a similarly resplendent soul whose character and brilliance shines from afar. I want to meet other like-minded souls and together light the path out of Mediocrity's cave. Are you happy with just what you have right now? Or does your soul hunger over my words? Do your eyes glow with ambition as you read?
That's the hard and ugly of the Soulforge.
There's also terrific beauty and grace.
"It would have to be beautiful and hard as steel, and make people ashamed of their existence."
Roquentin's thoughts about the novel that he seeks to write also apply to the soul that I wish to forge. Seeing the physical beauty doesn't take a genius. The men and women in this video have what I would say are some of the most superb physiques I've seen in a long time. Perfect body composition. Lean. Strong. Enduring. But what does a beautiful, a graceful soul look like? I believe beauty and grace refers to the rare and uncommon. Look around you. In the cubicle next to yours. In the other cars as you pass them on the highway. Down the aisles of your supermarkets. Look at the beleagured masses compromising with their lives.
A beautiful soul, a graceful spirit is above compromise. When you tell people about your workouts, some people will blink, laugh, and say "Oh, I'm so proud of you. I could never do that. That's just too difficult for me." That's right. What's difficult for them is ordinary for you. You've risen to the challenges you've set for yourself time and time again. Your eyes are always looking up at the next foothold, the next hand hold that you'll use to climb higher. Their eyes are always looking up at how high the walls that ring in their lives loom. In fact, you both gaze at the same sheer cliffs. It's the perception that's changed. I've lost the metaphor, but I hope you haven't lost my message.
This is the Soulforge. This is what I want to create.
