Cut The Crap And Flex Those Muscles!
I have been working out since I was 12 years old, because I was a Fat bastard. Those were the days of Commando, Rambo etc and all the boys (and some Girls too I guess), wanted arms and specially biceps like Schwarzenegger and Stallone. My body has been through many changes during the 25 years since then.
Even though I had worked out a lot and many many hours had been put into working out my biceps, it took till I was 37, for my biceps to finally start showing definition of some significance. They were always Big, but that was not what I wanted, I wanted that definition.
So while vainly flexing my biceps in the bathroom mirror One morning, I was thinking “hey, this is actually not bad at all. Seems like all my hard work is finally paying off. All I need to do now is Cut a bit more Fat and…” and I was overcome with this epiphany. I started laughing at my self in the mirror (which was rare these days, because the past few months I have just been giving myself pep-talks and stern lectures in the mirror). What I had just realised, had marked yet another significant ‘moment of Personal growth’ for me.
The reason that my bicep muscle was not showing despite all the years was NOT because I had not put in the hard work…it was because it was still surrounded and covered by FAT. And in order for the Bicep to really come out and show the definition, I had to ‘Cut the Fat’ around it. And these ARE Two different aspects when trying to attain decent bodily proportions.
This was tremendously intuitive for me because, I was feeling frustrated about where I was in my life. At 37, I was feeling that I had nothing to show and had not done justice to my talents, skills and abilities and hard work that I had put in during the past 18 years. And just like my bicep muscles were not showing because it was covered with Fat, who I was as a person was not showing because it was covered with Crap and I realised that I had to ‘Cut the Crap’ if I wanted the best parts of me, that I had worked so hard on for the past so many years, to show.
Sometimes, it is not enough to be talented or skilled and maybe even gifted. We might have even done a lot of hard work practicing and improving our skills, talents and abilities, but the results of all that are going to be hidden from the world and even ourselves unless we ‘Cut the Crap-Fat’ around us.
This Crap covering and hiding our ‘Intrinsic Muscles’ can be many things, these are some of the things that I identified;
* Insecurity and Surface level comparisons: We have done the hard work but are unsure if it is good enough. We look at the next person and think that that their muscles are better looking than mine, so end up hiding them. We are all unique, your biceps and your talents are yours, show them off for yourself, you are NOT in a Mister / Miss. Olympia Contest.
* Overconfidence / Cockiness: Charisma and Confidence are essential, but sometimes the line between Cool and Cocky is blurred. And its common for people who don’t know us to misinterpret our strengths as handicaps. So try and hide that Asshole part of you in the beginning ;-)
* Being Unkind: You have heard this before, but have you really listened? “everyone is fighting their own battle, be kind always”.
* Lack of Humility: Good on you for being blessed with Money, Good looks and the gift of the Gab. But the there are always people Richer than you, better looking than you and smoother than you. Fuckin’ get over yourself!
* Having the wrong people around you: This is a hard one. We usually think that the ‘wrong people’ are Strangers. But in fact, we don’t realise how detrimental what the people who are closest to us say and do. These people are not necessarily Evil or bad intentioned, but they do have consequences for us. Be mindful of this.
* Subscribing to world views that are inconsistent with you: Those days, it was just ‘peer-pressure’ that was pushing ideas on us. Now with Social Media there is just so many perspectives, causes and movements in our faces. While it is easy to get caught up in the ‘trend’ and aimlessly ‘follow’, its good to take a few steps back and evaluate if what you have subscribed to is consistent with your values and your personal journey.
* Thinking that ‘the Crap’ is a natural part of you: I was told that because of my Mother’s ethnicity “big arms’ were a natural thing, and that I had not really worked on them”. And since there was no definition in my arms with time, I too started believing this. Its load of Bull shit of course!
* Listening to people who say that “big arms are better than toned arms”: Fuck these Arm Chair Wankers. Most of the time, people who advice you about Biceps…don’t even have arms!
* You stop working on yourself because you think “what’s the use, its not showing anyway”: Another tricky one and very easy to get caught in this delusion. Keep doing what you are doing. If you are still not seeing results, consult an expert, get some insights, educate and inform yourself. REMEMBER…whether you see it or not, IF you are doing the hard work, there is progress. You just need to clear out the shed every once in a while. If not, you will not be able to distinguish between your ‘working’ and your ‘work’.
* Lack of Gratitude! Looks around you, RIGHT NOW! what are you Grateful for…write it down…post it on your wall. Keep adding to it!
Our MUSCLE is hidden by FAT…
Our HUSTLE is hidden by CRAP…
To see real progress…
We need to CUT both!
So quit quitting and go pick up those Dumbbells…its time to Cut the Crap!
