Excuses

My frequent trips through out the pathways of life have taught me a lot. At an early age I discovered the human invention of excuses. By definition, excuses are merely justification for not performing. Excuses are not inherently "bad," in fact they can be healthy in life, but there is NO PLACE for them in exercising. There is absolutely no reason to not exercise.

Case in point:

I have one hand. When I see you at the gym curling a 10lb weight you quite literally make me sick to my stomach. As a punishment, you then have to watch my STUMP curl 50lbs.

This is exactly what happened to me the other day. I was working out, like a fucking savage mind you, and I was wrapping up the workout with some cable military presses. Now there is physically no way to workout my left pec without a prosthetic. So I had my prosthetic on, now I don't have a pic but let me tell you... this shit is BADASS. Titanium and steel combo grip, solid casting, heavy duty hardware, and topped off with a camouflage paint job on the arm. I look like a jacked robotic marine, but I digress. So I'm get a good pump going and this woman is scoping me out. She was doing triceps in front of me. She turns towards me and heads my way. Now I'm thinking she is wondering how many reps I have left, wanting the cable machine maybe. Boy was I wrong. And so the convo went as follows:

Woman: "Hi there."

"Hey, how you doin?"

Woman: "You know... you are just incredible... I mean, I was sitting at home today making up bullshit excuses to not go to the gym. Then I finally get myself to come in and I see you. You have no hand and I have to say I have never seen anyone in my life work as hard as you. Seriously... like WOW... just amazing. You have no idea how much you motivate."

"I'm so glad I can do that for you. Use me in your thoughts next time you are sitting at home trying to create motivation for yourself."

Woman: "I will, thank you so much. Truely."

To which point she gave me a huge smile and trailed off.

Even my bodybuilder friends say I motivate then. I have a friend named Chris who is fresh out of the army. The kid is SHREDDED! Low 10's or single digit body fat. Very built, very dedicated, very motivated. I'm doing dead-lifts with my prosthetic the other day and he walked by.

Chris: "Drew you ARE my motivation."

Ladies and gentlemen, I have seen a double amputee with no legs outrun four other full body sprinters on nothing but a pair of carbon fiber boomerangs.

I have sat in a chair while a QUADROUPLE amputee crawled to the chair next to me and FLIPPED HIMSELF UP INTO THE SEAT TO TALK TO ME with a huge smile on his face just like he should.

Listen we all have flaws, we all get in slumps, but leave the excuses in the parking lot. In fact, void your life of them. The sad truth is, no one cares, and you really have no excuse when it comes down to it. I could sit on my fat ass all day everyday and say, "Well I only have one hand, I can't workout." THAT'S BULLSHIT! You know it, I know it, he world knows it. I can do whatever I put my mind to and so can you. You are born a champion, the world teaches you to lose. I have one hand? So what? And? The NO LEGGED dude is working out, why can't I?

Strength is looking an excuse bold in the eyes, have a staring contest with it, until it blinks.

Next time you want to sit on your ass and do nothing, think of me the one hand dude. Because the next time I want to do the same, I think of the no legged dude. There is no excuse. Someone is ALWAYS worse off than you. And that person turns out to NOT be worse off because THEY workout, reach goals, strive for excellence. All the while you sit on your ass, limbs intact, mind healthy, fully capable and able-boddied, eating fucking chips and watching Judge Joe Brown.

Give me a break. If you don't want to workout don't make an single excuse, just repeat after me:

"I'm lazy and don't want to workout."

That really isn't hard, nor is it a lie. It's honest, realistic, and positive because you are admitting your flaws.

Drop the excuses, grab a hold of life instead.