The Font of all Blessings

Recently, a friend of mine was discussing his love of bodybuilding on FaceBook. He had just participated in his first contest, finishing second in his class, and was flying high on the feeling of attaining a long cherished goal. Unfortunately, he was not getting a lot of love from those commenting.
In fact, many of those responding back were belittling of the sport entirely or incredulous that anyone would want to pursue bodybuilding as an end in itself.

As someone who has devoted thousands of hours to this sport over the past 40 years, I felt I had to stop "lurking" and add my two cents. I made the following post:

"I consider bodybuilding to be the "Font of all Blessings." It helps build the confidence and discipline that I need at work. It provides the foundation of strength and fitness for all of my other sports. It reduces any stress and anxiety that might negatively effect my relationships. It requires a holistically healthy lifestyle. It's not what I do, it's who I am."

I think that encapsulates what I've been telling myself almost daily over the past 40 years. Truly, it's what keeps me going and constantly trying to improve.

As the discussion played out in Facebook, there were very few negative comments that followed my post. In fact, a few folks ventured their own positive feedback and a few added their own positive experiences, echoing what I had stated. So as a budding evangelist for the bodybuilding lifestyle, I felt quite rewarded and determined I'd build on my statement.

In fact, if you examine that short paragraph I posted, you realize that there is not a single component of life that is not somehow positively influenced by bodybuilding. Certainly, the effort takes time away from other things, it requires discipline that at times is difficult to muster, and it is most definitely not understood by those who are not so engaged. Yet, it is an investment that pays off a hundred times. Over the next couple of months, I intend to reference back to this paragraph and expand on how bodybuilding plays out in each of the facets of life that I have outlined.

I'll admit that there have been many times over the past 4 decades where I've been burned out, unmotivated, frustrated with progress, confused about what routine I should be using, and in general, ready to quit this whole bodybuilding thing. Believe me, if you go at this with any degree of effort for an extended period of time, there are going to be ups and downs. What kept me going, even with some of those doubts still lurking in my head, was the mantra that, for me, bodybuilding is the font from which all blessings flow.