<Today’s post is a guest blog form a colleague of mine, Brandon Shewbert. We met at an instructor’s certification a number of years ago and have stayed in touch through the wonders of social media. He is based out of Vancouver, Washington and is in the process of writing a book. This post is an excerpt. His message puts a fine point on one of our main founding principles, and I hope it resonates with you as much as it did with me. Enjoy!>
Suicide by Habit
By: Brandon Shewbert
How many people do you know that gave up on living long before they died? This may be difficult to think about, but how many people do you know started dying once moving became difficult? How many people start this process at 27, 37, 47 or 57? It is depressing to consider but the reality is that too many adults give up their own quality of life way before they are ever threatened by their own mortality. This is why creating a habit of pursuing greater strength for yourself is important at any age.
At what point are you old? It’s at the point at which you believe your life no longer has purpose or is diminished in value. It’s at this point you start the slow process of pursuing the habits that kill you instead of pursuing the habits that allow your life to be lived in its most vibrant capacity. Your drug habit doesn’t need to be heroin. For many people it is yo yo dieting. Your drinking habit doesn’t need to involve alcohol. For many people it is a cancerous group of people that they call friends. Not only are these groups of people confirming that negative behaviors are good but they belittle anyone in their group from attempting to grow beyond their coven of corrosion.
Pursuing strength is one of the most fundamental endeavors that gives back more than it takes. If your habits are taking away from your life more than they are giving to you, then how do you expect to continue those habits long term? How can you pursue the best aspects of your life if you continue to bury them under a thousand vices? A thousand burdens are too heavy to carry and continue on training to be your best at the same time. The truth is that there is only so much room in your life for distractions while you train to improve your strength. The people you surround yourself with and the habits you pursue either bring a greater quality of life or they bring you closer and closer to death every year. Be mindful of the company you keep and be mindful of how you are living around other people. You are either a catalyst for those around you to improve their quality of life or you are a drain on their capacity to improve.
Lifestyle disease is just as deadly as a plane crash. It’s just as debilitating as a serious drug and alcohol addiction. It’s incredibly insidious though and far more socially acceptable. People don’t develop type II diabetes by accident. They don’t become morbidly obese by carefully monitoring their training and eating. Your choices pile up one way or another and eventually you are looking at the sum of your ambitions. Be mindful of your choices, your rituals, and your patterns of decision making. The subconscious mind is just as powerful as your waking consciousness. Guard your thoughts and your thought processes as they are subject to distraction.
Ultimately, you are either pursuing a more rewarding and fuller life or you are choosing habits that lead to an early death. Choosing to train rigorously for strength is a habit that will prevent you from pursuing a multitude of choices that will lead you away from realizing your fullest potential. We all have options and make choices every day to serve one purpose or another. You are capable of living a life of abundance and simultaneously capable of throwing away all the resources at your disposal. You hold the very fabric of your future within your hands. What you make of it is decided every moment of your life.
