MuscleAddiction
04-08-2014, 12:28 AM
I cannot tell a lie...I borrowed this article from FG, at this very moment in Nikki and my life this is what I need to read and embrace everyday...to remind us what life is truly all about. I feel that this too will help many of us here who may be going through some rough times, yes I speak of a few, and they are not alone!!! We have each other, we are a family here, we can help each other stay on our paths, offer guidance, motivation, and support...as we know we can!!!
Love to all of our family here from DN&MA :)!
STAYING ON ONES PATH
Trevor L Smith
Conceive....Believe....Achieve. This is the basic equation for all creation. Everything that man has every created, built, constructed, postulated, has all occurred through the use of this simple formula. It seems so ridiculously simple doesn't it. Too easy to actually work, but understand that it does and you have the ability to achieve anything.
We are going to take a look at each part of this equation and see how we can apply it to our lives and in particular to our bodybuilding goals. My hope is that when reading this, you understand and take away from it the practical applications for everything in your life. My martial arts instructor used to say...."Do not forget to take a diamond from jewel mountain" This simple means that look at all things as an opportunity for you to grow spiritually, mentally and physically. Don't go through the wasted effort of exposing yourself to new knowledge, only to forget it the second you walk away from it. How many times have we all read a book only to be unable to recall key points in it a few days later?
Understanding this equation above will equip you with the ability to control your own destiny, so let us dive right into the first part, which happens to be the easiest part.....CONCEIVING.
Everyone does this, in fact most are doing it right now. They are creating a vivid imagination of something that they would like to have happen. So detailed are these images, that the body actually has physiological responses to them. The heart-rate increases, adrenaline is released, endorphins flood our systems. We just thought of something that we would love to create or have happen. We can taste what it will be like if it occurs, we get so excited that we tell our friends or family, and that is where the process ends.
"Dad, I want to be an champion Bodybuilder." Dad's response: "Do you realize how impossible that is to become, and why on earth would you want to waste your time doing such a thing, there is no money in it. If I were you I would forget about those stupid pipe dreams and focus on a realistic goal." Sound familiar? Or better yet, before you even go and tell someone, you yourself have the exact same conversation like the one above except instead of your mother, father or friend telling you to get real, you tell yourself to. That's right, you cut your own legs out from under you, and why? Because you start to realize that it is a little more complicated than just conceiving an idea. Well I am here to tell you that it is not complicated at all, that the process is so simple that is scares everyone into thinking it is too good to be true and therefor too hard.
You can conceive of ideas or dreams or goals all day long, but if you do not take them immediately to the second part of the equation, they will die just as fast as you created them. Believing, and in particular belief in ones self, is the second part of the equation and it is the most difficult part. It really shouldn't be a difficult part at all and inherently it is quite simple, but we live in a world of expectations....expectations of society, family and friends, and these are constantly at odds with what you wish to believe about yourself.
If you ever get the chance to read some of the works of Joseph Campbell, do yourself a favor and read. Joseph Campbell had a love for all things in mythology, he conceived of a world in which he could make a living learning and teaching about mythology, he believed it when everyone else was wondering why on earth he would want to be a mythologist and were even wondering what the hell a mythologist was. It did not deter him from his path and until the end of his life, he continued to achieve world renowned greatness in the field of mythology and in the field of spirituality. He was truly a Master that walked the earth. He once told of the tale of King Minos and what it really meant when everything he touched turned to Gold. What was being told in that myth was that if you fail to follow your calling and do not believe in yourself, even if you manage to achieve great wealth and monetary possessions, it will be useless to you because you will be dead inside. Forever wondering what your life would have been like if you would have only listened to your calling and followed your dream and most importantly believed in yourself in spite of what others thought you should do or wanted you to do. Joseph Campbell also went on to say that this would not be an easy thing to do because of society and family pressures, but that things have a way of happening and opening to you if you choose your own path, one that is uncharted and specific to you, no matter what it is. He taught that everyone receives a calling which causes us to conceive a wonderful vision of what our life could be. The unfortunate thing is that most of us ignore this calling becoming yet another tragedy of life.
Therefore, the first thing we must do is learn to say "**** You" to everyone in our life who does not support or believe in what you have decided your calling is. Life is not about money, it is about creating and one of the things to realize is that if you are doing what you love, you will have happiness and bliss no matter what...rich or poor, but if you are following money all your life you may acquire it, but will still feel empty inside, and if you lose it or fail to acquire enough of it you are really left with nothing.
The strange thing is, is that when you follow your love, that which drives you the most, money has a way of finding you. Now I don't want anyone to think that this process happens overnight. For myself, I decided I wanted to be a bodybuilder and move to California to pursue that when I was 16 years old. Everyone thought I was crazy and didn't take me serious. As the years went by, I went to College and always gave the same answer when people asked what I was planning on doing with my life: I was moving to California to pursue bodybuilding! "Is there any money in that? They would ask. I would say: "I don't know and I don't care!" After College, when everyone was settled into there jobs and livings, they would brag about how much money they were making or would be making and when they would ask me what I was doing, my answer remained the same. More years went by as I continued to achieve my goals in Martial Arts, and yet my answer remained the same whenever the question was asked on what I was going to do with my life. My path was and is not a short one, it was rather long and arduous. I watched many people achieve monetary success and have nice things while I still struggled on my path, for money was not my focus. I could have easily stayed in New York, opened my own Dojo with my friend and made lots of money teaching Martial Arts. But I stayed true to my calling, as I stay true to this day.
The first two years of my life in California were hellish to say the least, and it would have been very easy to put my tail between my legs and go back to where money would be secure and pressure would be less. But that would have been the seemingly easy way that would turn into the hard way. No I stuck it out, even when my wife and family questioned me, and what has happened? I have a business that is steadily building, I have met and befriended many or the bodybuilders I read about and looked up to in the magazines and I have gained their respect as well.
People come to me for help and I get to give it to them and change their lives for the better. I wake up everyday knowing I get to do what I love to do, living in beautiful weather in a nice house 5 blocks from the beach and 2 minutes from the most famous gym in the world. I believed in me and my dream, even when my life was at it's lowest and seemingly hardest. I was alone and it did not matter, I would not cave, and I still will not cave. I know there are even greater things out there and all I have to do is stay on my path and believe in myself. In doing this, everyday I achieve something else new and wonderful. Which brings us to the third part of the equation.
Achieving is as easy as conceiving, but it is the believing that makes everything possible. When you set out on your path, whether it is bodybuilding or something else, the day you stop believing is the day you stop achieving. People make the mistake of looking for a final result from this equation of Conceive, Believe, Achieve, but there isn't one. It is an infinite equation, one that brings you amazing treasures and gifts each and every moment if you only open your eyes and look for them. The beauty lies in the process.
....And when he snatched the jewel from the mouth of the Dragon a profound sense of sadness filled him.......
So he tossed away the precious stone, for he realized that the true gift lie in the process.....
Stay on your path, no matter what and you will achieve everything you could ever imagine and more, but most of all you will achieve inner peace because you listened to yourself and stuck it out no matter how hard things got. Don't make the mistake of comparing yourself to others....only compare yourself with yourself If bodybuilding has been calling you, you must follow the call, it may not lead you to becoming a professional, but you will be very surprised where you can wind up, and in the end you will know that you posessed the heart of a true champion...a true hero. For a hero is not someone who laughs in the face of adversity, a hero is someone who despite being terrified of what lies ahead, forges on, and stays the path no matter what may lie ahead.
Love to all of our family here from DN&MA :)!
STAYING ON ONES PATH
Trevor L Smith
Conceive....Believe....Achieve. This is the basic equation for all creation. Everything that man has every created, built, constructed, postulated, has all occurred through the use of this simple formula. It seems so ridiculously simple doesn't it. Too easy to actually work, but understand that it does and you have the ability to achieve anything.
We are going to take a look at each part of this equation and see how we can apply it to our lives and in particular to our bodybuilding goals. My hope is that when reading this, you understand and take away from it the practical applications for everything in your life. My martial arts instructor used to say...."Do not forget to take a diamond from jewel mountain" This simple means that look at all things as an opportunity for you to grow spiritually, mentally and physically. Don't go through the wasted effort of exposing yourself to new knowledge, only to forget it the second you walk away from it. How many times have we all read a book only to be unable to recall key points in it a few days later?
Understanding this equation above will equip you with the ability to control your own destiny, so let us dive right into the first part, which happens to be the easiest part.....CONCEIVING.
Everyone does this, in fact most are doing it right now. They are creating a vivid imagination of something that they would like to have happen. So detailed are these images, that the body actually has physiological responses to them. The heart-rate increases, adrenaline is released, endorphins flood our systems. We just thought of something that we would love to create or have happen. We can taste what it will be like if it occurs, we get so excited that we tell our friends or family, and that is where the process ends.
"Dad, I want to be an champion Bodybuilder." Dad's response: "Do you realize how impossible that is to become, and why on earth would you want to waste your time doing such a thing, there is no money in it. If I were you I would forget about those stupid pipe dreams and focus on a realistic goal." Sound familiar? Or better yet, before you even go and tell someone, you yourself have the exact same conversation like the one above except instead of your mother, father or friend telling you to get real, you tell yourself to. That's right, you cut your own legs out from under you, and why? Because you start to realize that it is a little more complicated than just conceiving an idea. Well I am here to tell you that it is not complicated at all, that the process is so simple that is scares everyone into thinking it is too good to be true and therefor too hard.
You can conceive of ideas or dreams or goals all day long, but if you do not take them immediately to the second part of the equation, they will die just as fast as you created them. Believing, and in particular belief in ones self, is the second part of the equation and it is the most difficult part. It really shouldn't be a difficult part at all and inherently it is quite simple, but we live in a world of expectations....expectations of society, family and friends, and these are constantly at odds with what you wish to believe about yourself.
If you ever get the chance to read some of the works of Joseph Campbell, do yourself a favor and read. Joseph Campbell had a love for all things in mythology, he conceived of a world in which he could make a living learning and teaching about mythology, he believed it when everyone else was wondering why on earth he would want to be a mythologist and were even wondering what the hell a mythologist was. It did not deter him from his path and until the end of his life, he continued to achieve world renowned greatness in the field of mythology and in the field of spirituality. He was truly a Master that walked the earth. He once told of the tale of King Minos and what it really meant when everything he touched turned to Gold. What was being told in that myth was that if you fail to follow your calling and do not believe in yourself, even if you manage to achieve great wealth and monetary possessions, it will be useless to you because you will be dead inside. Forever wondering what your life would have been like if you would have only listened to your calling and followed your dream and most importantly believed in yourself in spite of what others thought you should do or wanted you to do. Joseph Campbell also went on to say that this would not be an easy thing to do because of society and family pressures, but that things have a way of happening and opening to you if you choose your own path, one that is uncharted and specific to you, no matter what it is. He taught that everyone receives a calling which causes us to conceive a wonderful vision of what our life could be. The unfortunate thing is that most of us ignore this calling becoming yet another tragedy of life.
Therefore, the first thing we must do is learn to say "**** You" to everyone in our life who does not support or believe in what you have decided your calling is. Life is not about money, it is about creating and one of the things to realize is that if you are doing what you love, you will have happiness and bliss no matter what...rich or poor, but if you are following money all your life you may acquire it, but will still feel empty inside, and if you lose it or fail to acquire enough of it you are really left with nothing.
The strange thing is, is that when you follow your love, that which drives you the most, money has a way of finding you. Now I don't want anyone to think that this process happens overnight. For myself, I decided I wanted to be a bodybuilder and move to California to pursue that when I was 16 years old. Everyone thought I was crazy and didn't take me serious. As the years went by, I went to College and always gave the same answer when people asked what I was planning on doing with my life: I was moving to California to pursue bodybuilding! "Is there any money in that? They would ask. I would say: "I don't know and I don't care!" After College, when everyone was settled into there jobs and livings, they would brag about how much money they were making or would be making and when they would ask me what I was doing, my answer remained the same. More years went by as I continued to achieve my goals in Martial Arts, and yet my answer remained the same whenever the question was asked on what I was going to do with my life. My path was and is not a short one, it was rather long and arduous. I watched many people achieve monetary success and have nice things while I still struggled on my path, for money was not my focus. I could have easily stayed in New York, opened my own Dojo with my friend and made lots of money teaching Martial Arts. But I stayed true to my calling, as I stay true to this day.
The first two years of my life in California were hellish to say the least, and it would have been very easy to put my tail between my legs and go back to where money would be secure and pressure would be less. But that would have been the seemingly easy way that would turn into the hard way. No I stuck it out, even when my wife and family questioned me, and what has happened? I have a business that is steadily building, I have met and befriended many or the bodybuilders I read about and looked up to in the magazines and I have gained their respect as well.
People come to me for help and I get to give it to them and change their lives for the better. I wake up everyday knowing I get to do what I love to do, living in beautiful weather in a nice house 5 blocks from the beach and 2 minutes from the most famous gym in the world. I believed in me and my dream, even when my life was at it's lowest and seemingly hardest. I was alone and it did not matter, I would not cave, and I still will not cave. I know there are even greater things out there and all I have to do is stay on my path and believe in myself. In doing this, everyday I achieve something else new and wonderful. Which brings us to the third part of the equation.
Achieving is as easy as conceiving, but it is the believing that makes everything possible. When you set out on your path, whether it is bodybuilding or something else, the day you stop believing is the day you stop achieving. People make the mistake of looking for a final result from this equation of Conceive, Believe, Achieve, but there isn't one. It is an infinite equation, one that brings you amazing treasures and gifts each and every moment if you only open your eyes and look for them. The beauty lies in the process.
....And when he snatched the jewel from the mouth of the Dragon a profound sense of sadness filled him.......
So he tossed away the precious stone, for he realized that the true gift lie in the process.....
Stay on your path, no matter what and you will achieve everything you could ever imagine and more, but most of all you will achieve inner peace because you listened to yourself and stuck it out no matter how hard things got. Don't make the mistake of comparing yourself to others....only compare yourself with yourself If bodybuilding has been calling you, you must follow the call, it may not lead you to becoming a professional, but you will be very surprised where you can wind up, and in the end you will know that you posessed the heart of a true champion...a true hero. For a hero is not someone who laughs in the face of adversity, a hero is someone who despite being terrified of what lies ahead, forges on, and stays the path no matter what may lie ahead.