Unfortunately life sometimes throws curve balls at us. Some people are just born lucky, while others have to struggle in order to get somewhere. We don’t all have the same starting line, but that does not mean that those that weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth, won’t be able to achieve something. At least that is my hope. Even through the numerous curve balls that have been thrown at me throughout my life, I keep on believing. I keep on fighting and struggling.
Hope dies last and if you find yourself in a tough situation, don’t give up hope. You lose only if your mind breaks. You should never keep your mind away from your ultimate goal: happiness. We all have different things that make us happy and circumstances sometimes force us to redefine them, but happiness is something that we all strive for.
The road towards this ultimate goal is not easy. It oftentimes is winding and full of obstacles. Sometimes circumstances force you to fall off the road and go back to the beginning. If this happens, you shouldn’t say “f#*k this” and give up, but instead once again set off on the road you fell off from.
Or maybe reexamine your priorities and set off on a different road. Sometimes you might feel that the first road you were walking on is not the road that fulfills you the most and another road would make you much happier. So you change roads. For example, one of your goals could be to be healthy. So you set off on the bodybuilding road, however in the middle of the road you might change and decide that bodybuilding is not for you, but instead crossfit is.
It is not important what exact road you are on, but it is important that you are on some sort of a road. A road that leads you to your ultimate goal: happiness.
I have had to refocus my life throughout at different stages, because of different circumstances. Yes, it has been a painful and depressing experience, however I am not giving up. When my previous goals fail, I form new ones.
It is a frustrating experience when you are blocked from achieving your goals, especially if it is by circumstances beyond your control. Last year I decided to be very dedicated to achieving the body and health that I always wanted. I got on a good routine and was starting to achieve good gains. One day, this all stopped. During one of my trainings, I ruptured my ACL.
I am still going through the recovery process and trying to strengthen my knee. It will still take a few months to get my knee back to normal (I hope it will get back to normal), and probably still some time after that to get rid of the fear of doing things. Whenever you get an injury like this, not only will you have to recover physically, but also mentally. Deep down in your mind, this fear settles and prevents you from doing things that you have done before. You are afraid of injuring yourself again.
Unfortunately I can’t really go full on into the process of getting bigger that I was set upon before the injury, however during this time of recovery, I have refocused myself on a different goal. That goal is getting a good posture. Unfortunately I am hypermobile, which means I have loose joints and that is not good for posture. I also sit the entire day in front of the computer, either at work or at home. Even now I am sitting and typing, trying real hard not to be hunched over.
It is a difficult struggle. However I go to the gym now with two specific goals: strengthening my knee and working on my posture. For the second goal, I work on strengthening the muscles that our sedentary lifestyle makes weak, the hamstrings, the glutes, the back and all the stabilizer muscles that stabilize your body. However that is only a part of the journey. The more difficult one is to try to maintain a good posture throughout the day in all your activities. This part is the one I still have to improve on.
You see, I was on one road, but unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control was forced to go off that road. Yes I did despair, but instead of keeping on despairing at my great misfortune, I decided to go on a side-path. I will continue on this side-path, until I am fit enough to again get on the main road.
When some obstacle blocks the primary road that you want to take, come up with new roads, new challenges that you can overcome. Once you overcome these, maybe the old road will unblock itself and you can continue on it.
Think about what you want to achieve in your life. Set some goals and a plan to achieve them. Instead of focusing on your problems, think about how you can solve them. Are you skinny? Then start eating and working out. Are you unhealthy? Then start doing things that will make you healthy. You don’t have to take someone else’s path, but you should take some sort of a path, which will help you achieve what you want to achieve.
This path will be long, hard and oftentimes you will fall off it. The key is to never give up and if an obstacle comes your way, you should be able to overcome it. You need to keep on fighting. In life, oftentimes you are the maker of your own destiny. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. Whatever circumstances you have been dealt and whatever new BS comes your way, you need to keep on fighting! 🙂