The Sculptor
A few years ago before I started going to the gym I was about 140 lbs 6'1.
Real skinny kid, wasn't too confident. Didn't really see the value in going to the gym, had trouble staying consistent with anything always made some sort of excuse. I remember one specific instance when a close friend asked me why I don't go to the gym with him I snapped and said something along the lines of "Bro shut up you don't know what people do with their lives, I've been doing push-ups every day for the past 2 months in my room I just don't want to go to the gym" That was cope.
I remember coming home from class one day, first year uni, opening up youtube and seeing this video.
I was sold a dream. Given an image on a gold platter showing exactly what I could achieve if I put in the time.
Signed up for the gym the next week and started the grind with a close friend. Went well for a bit then he went on vacation for a month and I was too scared to go by myself. Eventually he came back home flamed me for it (which I'm grateful for, important to keep your friends accountable) and we got back to it. But what I didn't anticipate when starting this grind was the mental improvement the gym gives you. I realized that I saw this beautiful statue hidden under the layer of my flesh and only I was the one who could bring it out. And through this process of carving my statue out of flesh, I sharpened my mind as well.
And as I kept at the gym I realized the gap between me and some of these bodybuilders or "influencers."
But to me no matter how big or small he was, David Laid always remained the pinnacle, because, after a while it wasn't about his physique, it was more of an idea that I was chasing.
This skinny kid, who looked similar to me, reached those heights. And it never mattered to me whether he was natural or on steroids, because like I said, he was simply an idea. A representation of the compounding of hard work NATURAL OR NOT.
I feel like this post lost its direction mid-way through so I'll end it off with something I wrote in my notebook long ago.
"The weights taught me much more about myself than any amount of therapy ever could."