A Lesson Learned

Look at your hands. What do you see? Callous, scars, blisters. They're all battle wounds, the rewards of hard work earned. They're what holds me together when I feel broken, beat up, cast down. So many people do not like callous or scars. It means that they have been hurt and are deformed from it. They're no longer flawless and that scares many. I do not understand that fear. Maybe I once did as a young child but it has long been forgotten in my years of sport and life.

Getting hurt brings pain and with it a lesson. You can choose to listen or fear the pain and ignore it with a vow never to hurt again. That's fine if you run, no one will blame you. What if you listened to pain's lesson? Pain would teach how to do it better next time. Many think Pain is an enemy but they're wrong. She is a dear friend of any who listens. It's why many parents let their children play in the dirt or spank them when they did wrong. The kids learn from it. I have learned from it.

The last six years of my life have been filled with lots of pain. Pain on the football field, breaking up with a long time girlfriend, suffering daily on a weightlifting platform, getting through college, you name it! There have been many days Pain has sat me on the ground and almost broke me. Imagine sitting on the ground with my hands on my face, numb, just blank for what feels like an eternity. Then I look down at my hands see my scars and callous which sends me back to the lessons Pain taught me. She calls out and wakes me from my numbed state. I see that I have been healed from my lessons and made stronger. The callous is my armor physically and mentally. The scars are tattoos portraying lessons learned. I feel a rush of defiance swell within and fight the urge to quit and run away. That would be easy, that would be normal. Easy is the road the ones without courage take.

Pain teaches courage. Ask the courageous people in your life and see if they learned courage while they were comfortable. They didn't. Keep fighting in the Pits. Whenever you feel like breaking just stop, look at your hands. They'll remind you of everything you've already been through and prove to you that you can take so much more. One day there won't be a need to fight any longer and you can pass your knowledge onto another who is fighting as you once did. Until then, stay strong and keep fighting.

Growing Pains

Have you ever been working for something you really wanted? Did it ever get tough and hurt whether it be physically, emotionally, or spiritually? Those are growing pains. Room must be made for anything to grow in any aspect of life. Making room in your life is what hurts. Even though sometimes these growing pains really hurt and can bring even the sturdiest knees to the ground, they make the growth meaningful.

In Olympic Weightlifting the most obvious growing pain is waking up everyday so sore that I walk funny. The amount of physical stress we put on our bodies at Pirate Weightlifting, the club I lift with, is extremely high. All of us push to the max every week. There are some days where we do not even want to touch the barbell from fatigue and muscle soreness. There have been days where I have been shaken from day dreaming by a teammate and I did not realize I had even begun to day dream. For all none weightlifting readers it might just seem like physical growing pains but if you dig a little deeper you'll find it untrue.

With any physical growth there is also mental and emotional growth. Sometimes there is even spiritual growth. A person cannot only grow one thing about themselves because we are not just physical beings or mental beings. Try it and when someone says what is different about you there will be at least two things different about you. In weightlifting, as with all sports, the athletes have to battle their own mind and emotions to push physically harder. That's what draws so many individuals to sports. It's addictive! Every time I lift a heavy weight I have to first get my mind right, then I have to channel my emotions before setting my body to the task. There are days where I even pray for strength because I know my own body and mind will not get me through a workout. Why do we do it? It's worth it.

I gladly wake up every day to hurt. I take positive outlook on the growing pains. Once I have worked and hurt for what I yearn for no one can take it from me. I earned it with the sweat of my brow and the strength given to my hands. Ask any hard worker, they will agree. There are really scary times with it though. There will be times you want to give in or doubt your abilities. Have courage. You can do it. If you're a reader who has not striven for something because for the fear of failure or hurting it's okay to be scared but it is not okay to try.  The hardest part will be getting out of your comfort zone. Once you're there you'll be astonished at how you'll grow. So build up some courage and get out there and fight in those pits. Hurt some now so you can grow some later. You have what it takes.

Thanks and keep battling.

Questions

Questions, they can really change a conversation or outlook on something. Sometimes a person will ask a question and really throw you off guard to where you don't know how to react. Perhaps it makes you question the reasons why you even did what you did or why you said the things you said. I hate that. It puts me all in a frenzy inside my head and I can't think clearly to the point when I respond it takes a paragraph for what a sentence can confirm. By the time I finish putting together all those frantic thoughts, I don't know if I even believe myself because I'm confused as to what my purpose is.

Lately, I have remembered a piece of wise advice from my mom and its "Question Everything". She would always tell me that but it never really clicked until the past few months. I thought she was primarily applying it to school and question the professors until I know the exact answer so I could get the A. I was missing the big picture though. She was telling me question "everything" as in myself, my dreams, purpose, actions etc. It was about more than getting the nice bold letter A on the report card; it was about being successful in life!

How does questioning everything help you succeed? Seemed like nonsense at first but it isn't. When you start questioning yourself about the things you have done, are doing, or will do, the meaning and purpose of those actions start to uncover themselves. Before training in weight room today, I asked myself,"Garrett, why are you here? Why do you constantly beat yourself down in hopes to lift a barbell up? Isn't pointless, barbaric and chauvinistic? You could be out there with your friends in the sunshine or enjoying life and not sacrifice so much of life. Why?" I laughed at the little voice of doubt in the back my head and answered,"I do it because I love the pain of discipline. I love the release of rage against the barbell. Yea, so what if I'm an outcast among my the majority of my peers. They aren't like me. Because I stand away from the masses and head in a direction that others like myself have gone, I make a difference. I blaze another trail for those to timid or lost right now to follow. To show them their dreams can become reality if they cut off the things meaningless to them and have courage to do so. Don't question myself resolve to succeed. I've removed my doubts because I have questioned myself already."

I am asked quite often by others why do I sacrifice so much. I get laughed at for not drinking at parties or going out late on the weekends. They say it's so fun to just forget everything, to get so drunk you destroy yourself and the relationships you have with others... Not to me. I embrace the names freak, insane, and loser. I wear them as a badge of pride. I do what most do not, make my dreams a reality. I train insane because it keeps me sane and focused on my goals. I lift heavier weights higher because others choose not too and to push the naysayers further away from me in fear. In fear that I will accomplish what I've set out to do.

Misery loves company, which is what I see in the masses. They have not questioned why they do things not meaningful to them and why they continue to do them. They are miserable for it. They live for the weekend to forget their meaningless life in meaningless activities. I'm not saying that you readers are the masses but I'm sure many of you know the kind of people I speak of. Don't be like them, it's not worth it. It's okay to walk alone because you won't really be alone. There are plenty of us "against the grain" types out there to keep you company and motivated. Keep training insane and lifting heavy weights! Run faster, study longer, say no to that extra drink and get some sleep. Don't do something you know is wrong or sets you back.You'll be better for it. Come on, you can do it! Be a freak! Be the outsider! Get laughed at for your lifestyle. Let it fuel you. Don't stop because no one likes what you do. They don't like it because you're doing what they're too scared to...

Thanks Ma for the the advice. I love you and will always remember to question everything. I will continue to suffer the pain of my discipline as a weightlifter and my beliefs as a Christian. I will carry on with my dreams and when I accomplish them I will wait for you, the masses, to change your hearts and follow after. I will embrace you as friend then. Until then, I will continue training and becoming stronger everyday waiting for you.

See you soon.

Lift The World

"Lift the world" A mantra that fuels determination and keeps me focused on my dreams. It doesn't mean that I'm trying to lift as much weight as possible in vain. It means lift the current world I'm in off my shoulders in so that I can build the world I want to be in. Every time I lift that barbell off the floor and overhead I step one step closer to my dreams and one step away from the weakness within me today. I am a collegiate weightlifter and the name of the game is to lift as much weight possible.

The world I am in now consists of college, peer pressures, and weightlifting. It's a lifestyle that requires much self-discipline which I am not always good at, but I get better each and everyday. I know that if I am not disciplined in school then I will fail or at least receive grades below my potential. If I am not disciplined to resist certain peer pressures and to surround myself with good people then I will become what I hate; a lazy, unmotivated person. Not a man, but merely a person who looks like a man but is too weak mentally to take action and conquer himself and his life. If I become that person then I will never reach my dream of being a national level weightlifter or to build the world I want.

I fight everyday on the lifting platform so that I can fight harder in life. The sport keeps me honest. The barbell will never lie to and always keeps you in your place. If you try to lift to much, it will crush you. If you fight hard it will fight harder. That barbell will show you who you really are, what you are really made of because it will always push you to the edge. It will ask you,"Do you keep fighting through the reps and the heavy loads? Do you push on even though you feel nausea from so many squats after lifting maximal on the clean and jerk and the snatch? Or do you go home and walk away?" I replied,"I stay, I fight because I know each lift brings me closer to my dreams of being an elite weightlifter and the man I will be. I will lift you, barbell, until you have taken every ounce of strength from me or I break you in two my friend. This is a fight to the death and I will win."

This doesn't only apply to weightlifting, it applies to what it is that you love and do. Build your world as I build mine, one brick at a time. I will continue to lift the world, my world, until I build the one I dream of on this platform until I no longer am able. Will you?

Chester Chronicles: Part 1

Hey readers, this is the beginning of a series of short stories I began writing a few months ago. Hope you enjoy.

Alas! A raging storm engulfed the small vessel of Chester, a hardy mouse en route to a land of mystery and riches. The waves churned violently while sea spray pelted the mouse's tattered rain slicker. The violence of the tempest frightened Chester something dreadful. All seemed lost in this moment, all hope vanished. His faith no longer held steadfast that he would live to see his destination.

The storm raged for days upon the open sea before finally fizzling out. Chester's sail no longer whole and the winds nonexistent leaving to drift with the current to a place God only knew. Another week passed and the sight of land held to no avail. The rations were depleted and his strength faded.

Yet another ominous storm befell the mouse and the boiling sea tossed Chester into its mouth. The mouse fought for breath of life in the chaos. He fought to stay afloat with all he had until death seemed inevitable. A stroke of luck for the unfortunate mouse! He was hurled upon a beach by the waves relief overwhelmed the mouse as consciousness faded.

The morning sun woke the survivor and before his very eyes was his destination. His fight to live had paid in full. Mountains glistened in the light as if they were made of gemstones and sounds of animals unknown rang out in the forest below.

When the sailor regained some strength and bearing he began to venture into the forest. The canopy swallowed any daylight, leaving the mouse in darkness. He crept quietly forward up the mountain to search for the riches. As the mouse continued his journey a sense that he was not alone began to take hold. The hair on his neck bristled and his heart raced yet no other sense than the sixth justified the feeling.

The mouse set upon a cave. At its end a monstrous heap of gold, emerald and ruby! Greed consumed the mouse. He began to fill his pockets full of the riches. He rolled and laughed the heap like a child in leaves.

A low, guttural growl filled the air. Chester sprung from his bounty ready to fight. What evil had he awoken?

A monster hideous enough to rival the infamous Grendel stepped into the dim light. A stench of a thousand rotting corpses followed, overwhelming the mouse.Chester began running down the mountain, leaving his riches behind and all he had fought for. The monster followed in pursuit of his intruder. 

The mouse could no longer run. A sheer granite wall surrounded him as the demon of the deep corned him. His life no longer was driven upon riches but of his own whit and will to live. The demon hissed a low laugh as he walked toward his victim claws extended, fangs bared. A defiant resolve filled the mouse as he dug in for the fight. His most precious jewel at stake, his life.

The mouse laughed back at the monster followed. Fear no longer gripped Chester. He unleashed every ounce of strength he had right into the face of death. The fiends clashed, the ground trembled, and blood spilled as their bodies smacked together in the melee. The mouse gained advantage on the demon at last. He severed the monsters neck. Black blood sprayed the ground and the life of the demon seeped into the earth. The victor lay victorious but exhausted on the field of battle. 

He hobbled his way back to the beach grateful to have his life but now that he had beaten the monster another trial ensued; he had to find his way home....

Keep fighting your demons. Don't give in to the enticing temptations that the world offers like money, lust, or drugs and forget who you are are and where you came from in the process. The most valuable thing you will ever have in life is life itself.

Strength and Honor

Strength and honor, two simple words yet they hold more meaning than a mere definition. The phrase is a father's creed passed down to his son in hopes to shape him into a man one day. The boy did not know that those simple words would change his life forever. Now his son has grown into a man and the phrase is now his creed. It is a constant reminder of the son's roots and the battles in the pit it has led him through.

Strength is not just physical strength; it's the mental fortitude to keep control of yourself in any pit you battle in. It's really easy to the situation you're in dictate the way you feel or act. However, that is the easy way, the weak way. More often than not it causes people to make wrong decisions or nothing at all. True strength comes from the individual who has the ability dictate their actions no matter the environment they are in. It takes courage though, courage to fight the fear that keeps you locked inside the pit, the pit of regrets and bad choices. Having a code of honor makes the courage come easier.

Honor is acting in a way that upholds personal beliefs and values. It is the mortar that holds the bricks of strength in place. My code of honor was most thoroughly defined by mission statement of authentic manhood one of my baseball coaches made. It is: Reject Passivity, Accept Responsibility, Lead Courageously, and Expect the Greater Rewards of God. Basing my actions on this code of honor has helped me make decisions that bring honor to my family, friends, and most importantly my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not saying I have not made mistakes or brought shame upon myself or my loved ones but I have not fought a battle that I have not bounced back from. My code of honor gives me something to hold myself accountable and something to live by. It gives me a burning desire to become better as a man each day and sense of urgency to rectify my wrong doings before they take hold of me and lock me in the pits. 

All of this is the teaching my father instilled in me while he could still mold my mind. I am thankful everyday for setting me upon this path and showing me the love of God. Not a day goes by that I do not think of him or what he would do in a certain situation. I would be a completely different person if he had not taken the time to teach me the ways of Strength and Honor. It would most definitely be for the worse.

Thanks Dad.