Physical Exercise

It has been my fortune to venture through the many sides of a beautiful prism known to us as physical exercise. These encompass the manipulation of our body using distinct enough movement patterns that promote a specific goal, be it finding the inside of a metal rim or the occlusion of another man’s airway. Sometimes its purpose is found within a shallow planted seedling, vanity always finds a way to sprout through. My goal is to elucidate the basic philosophy, the singular light contained within each facet of the aforementioned prism.

The basic exercise philosophy should reflect the same principles that many other valuable experiences in life and nature embody. This is most accurately summarized, without being excessively crude, as the ability to find weakness within oneself. Modern society has conditioned us to shy away from difficulty, or at the very least to pursue success as an overarching goal. It seems strange to look down upon success, but in its undeserved spotlight it has confused many men with the same ideology that sees expensive objects as worthy pursuits in their own right, rather than mere reflections. The basic misunderstanding lies in the overlooking of success as a jewel that finds a shine proportioned to its greatest cracks.

Test your body as a whole, no part of your entirety excluded. At first attempt basic physical movements that challenge you. Perhaps this will begin with strange steps in directions you were not used to. This will challenge things like balance or joint dexterity, things you were not accustomed to using-- they will get stronger, and you better. Perhaps then you will find it difficult to think of new and increasingly difficult positions. This will test your determination, the way you deal with frustrations of the mind, and you will overcome and think of new ways to challenge yourself. Perhaps then your lungs will falter, temporarily. Air will become a precious commodity and you will be forced to battle with your ego. A raging war between your overeager angst and your will to remain patient, to endure. The point is the struggles will arise and they will require more than a physical presence to overcome. To have our mind and body as an inseparable whole is the ultimate prize for proper practice of ‘physical exercise’.

That imaginary switch is real?!

If I had a penny for every night that ended with hard pressed discontent...I'd be rich. The kind that turns that deeply bound, childlike craving for a sunny day into scattered showers, thunderstorms approaching. And every night, as I lay tossing and turning, I feel that sandman of slumber approach--my saving grace; silencing those rambunctious thoughts, allowing me a moment of silence, of peace, before it begins once more...

As of late I've noticed more and more the ubiquity of discontent around me. Diet books, make more money here and there, learn to come from a place of yes instead of no. Doesn't it seem that we have been doing everything wrong....FOREVER?? These books, these people, these goddamn foods are what we've been missing. As soon as we start on the path to healing, to less is more, to whatever the fuck sounds more peaceful than that shit storm in your brain. That's it, that's the answer.

It's this pleasant life that I've entrenched myself in. These pleasant thoughts are what drift about my mind when I'm walking up the stairs, ready to brush my teeth and head to bed. The bathroom mirror is unflattering. Distended belly, inflamed red spots, hair in unflattering area's-- check, unhappy and uncomfortable, unfortunately--double check.

These moments can feel like an eternity. But eventually, I make my way to bed. Tomorrow, I say, so quietly, embarrassed to be speaking in a hollow dimension of my own creation. Tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow I will eat perfectly, I will live perfectly, I will be perfect. And then it hits me. Tomorrow will be the same as every day before it. If there's one thing I have learned through all my curiosity, through all that digestion of literature, however gassy and incomplete, is that nothing is ever the way it seems. Push past the pain, toil even, while you exercise for the gold medal of health and power. Just don't forget about those stress hormones and the increased appetite that constitute the plastic center of your lustrous trophy. Truth's like these always make me wonder: why try? the more you try, the more your effort fuels destruction.

It was during this series of moments, where I lay in bed, completely aware and in touch with the room around me, just as I was becoming uncomfortable in the humidity and heat, the air conditioner began to rumble and breathe. Like some awkward silence suddenly broken. The chatter of this cooling system seemed a refreshing breeze, a perfect soundtrack of serenity.

I can't explain it, as I'm sure it doesn't make much logical sense. It was like a sudden switch. Every voice seemed to dissipate, slowly but ever so surely. As I use every day, every event, every action, as a point of reference, a piece of data to construct a more positive tomorrow. I was suddenly disengaged. Lucid, it seemed, I had become. I would surf along tomorrow; glide along the gentle, move aside the dangerous.

This language hides the reality, I feel. It's not cruising by the easy and avoiding the challenges. Rather, I mean to say its all about following my natural instincts. To handle matters that I can with grace, and approaching difficulties in the appropriate manner, with humility and acceptance of the challenge--leaving aside any added pretense. Acceptance.

I guess what I've realized is that today wasn't perfect and that's fine with me...