The Tests of Life

February 5, 2016

No bullshit coming from me this time.  I've been out of the lifting game since I completed my powerlifting meet in October of 2012 where I pulled 500, squatted 455, and benched 315.  I worked my ass off to get there and then lost motivation.  I also find my love for playing music in April of 2013 and it equaled game over for lifting since then.

Yes, I had a few spurts of getting back into it, but nothing stuck.  It just wasn't there inside of me.  When you don't have your life together outside of the weight room it's hard to have it together inside.  At least it is for me.

The last 16 months have been the hardest time of my life.  I won't go into detail, but the events that took place forced me to sit back and really look at who I was.  To look at who the people around me were.  I didn't really like what I saw.

This forced me to tear down everything about my life and rebuild it from the bottom.  It's a never ending process, but I got rid of a lot of the fluff and things that didn't matter.  In my daily activities, in my mind, and in my life in general.  If it didn't add value it was out.

Not everything happened immediately and I'm still working on a lot of it.  That's OK, it's a process.  You don't climb a mountain by going from the base to the peak in one motion.  You climb slowly.  You get to a new level and chill for a little bit while you get acclimated to the new elevation.  You have to be confident that the ground is firm, regain your energy and then make another move.

Life is the same way.  Every new level brings out people trying to pull you back.  Every new level also brings out the doubt in those around you.  They don't believe that you've actually improved.  They will test the hell out of you to see if it's real.

That's a good thing.  It forces you to prove to yourself as well.  Every test you pass will give you confidence.  Every test gets easier as you go.  When you get to a big test all of those skills you learned along the way have prepared you to pass it.

I received my six week plan from Paul Carter today.  I've come to a level on the mountain of my life where I can't really get any further in the condition I'm in.  I'm not terrible by any means, but I'm slowly falling into the average category.  Fuck average.

The tests I've passed and the skills I've learned have prepared me for this phase. It's going to be tough, but that's what makes it fun.

This weekend I will be prepping and grocery shopping to get off to a great start. I will post a little about that process over the weekend.