The light overcomes darkness whenever they are in the same room together. I think that everything in the weight room applies to life outside the gym in a powerful way, the lessons learned in the micro setting of the gym can be applied to the macro setting of “real life.” The idea of being driven by love or hate, light or dark, has always resonated with me because on a philosophical level. A lot of people that become obsessed with getting stronger are doing it as a defense mechanism, and while getting into the gym is absolutely awesome it’s important not to stay in a negative place mentally/emotionally as you build yourself up. While a negative thing may have drawn you to the start of a journey you can fall in love with the process and find within it a truly amazing power for good in your life. In the dichotomy of light and dark emotional headspace I personally believe that more power and drive can be harnessed from the light instead of the darkness and the beautiful thing is that you get to choose which one you lean into more.
A story that has stuck with me over a decade, since I first heard it while interning at a university. I may misremember some of the details but the morale of the story remains intact. Out of respect for the people whose story this is, I will refrain from using their names and retell it as a fable. There were two brothers who we will call Brad and Terry. Both were incredible athletes, but Terry had a truly special gift. He would go on to achieve accolades for playing his sport at the highest professional level. Brad was an incredible athlete too but had the self-awareness to recognize that he did not have the same gift his brother did. They were both recruited to play football at the same elite program. Terry clearly a star destined for incredible things and Brad doing his job well but having to fight for his position on the team. Athletes playing football, especially in decades past, were taught to hate their opponents to hone their “killer instincts.” Against this backdrop of a violent game in violent times the coach called Brad into his office to defend his job on the field. When the coach asked him why he should be the starter instead of someone else Brad, with his keen insight, thought for a second and responded. “Terry is a vital player on the team, and I love my brother. There is not a person on the team that loves my brother as much as I do, so there is not a person on the team that will fight for him as hard as I will. I am going to make sure nothing happens to my brother because I love him, and the love I have for my brother is great than any hate our opponents might have for him.” With that he kept his starting position and protected his brother better than anyone else could ever have. With age and loss this story resonates more with me now than ever before.
Over the years I have seen a lot of gyms and weight rooms. I have seen a lot of people in strength sports delve into the “darkness” to draw power from that. Hate and rage can fuel your drive. These are primal emotions that can propel us to be better. Competition and will to win can fuel that fire of performance in you but giving your effort meaning and pouring out your love into something important can build you up, breathing more joy into the process. I believe in the power of love, and that it is the more powerful emotion. Demonstrated here in this story where one brother is willing to lay it all on the line for the other. I encourage you to lean into the love you have in your life. It will build you spiritually and be a power greater than you can imagine. Lean into the love you have for training, for your sport, for the path you find yourself on and mount up on wings of angels for they sore higher than the demons do. It’s the harder thing to do, because love can hurt you far more than hate can, but I truly believe that it is a far richer path that will take you farther. Train hard my friends and love the journey.
