Snowflakes
Did you know that snowflakes are unique i.e. no two flakes are alike?
Think about that. Isn't that fucking incredible?!?! Of the millions of flakes that are going to fall, none of them will resemble each other.
They have the common root - a six-branch structure which is defined due to how the two Hydrogen atoms bond with the Oxygen and the angle of that and other science-y stuff. But the reason they evolve into a different shape is simply coz of the subtle variations during their actual formation as it falls down. The exact temperature, the humidity, the makeup of the atoms and the collisions along the way - albeit a few centimetres - leads to a unique shape. So, even if two flakes are within inches of each other, their exact path varies and so they end up looking different.
That strike you somewhere?
You are unique. You are a composite of all your experiences so far. How you react to something today is hard to explain because there have been so many collisions and interactions along the way. Maybe you got bullied in school, maybe you were made fun of for being short, maybe you were always late or always early, or you hit the books, or the playground. Across the spectrum of a million things, your interactions and reactions vary subtly and grossly from someone else, even if they grew up in the same household.
You are you. That's the beauty of it. While we can all be generalised into a group for ease of calculations and what-not, you have to allow you to be you.
How you respond to lifting weights, how you enjoy (or don't) the gym or strength training, and every other thing you can think of - there is a lot of shaping that's already done. Not that you cannot re-shape yourself. But the point is there is a reason you are different.
Celebrate it! Enjoy it.
To sincerely accept others as they are, we must begin with ourselves. If we cannot accept ourselves as we are, we will never be able to accept others.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
I'm not sure there is a more misunderstood word than "fit", especially when used in "fitness". But every jigsaw puzzle teaches us the true meaning: Its pieces fit!
The original term "fit" comes from the Old Nordic, "to knit". For me, that's the crucial point of why we eat a certain way, workout and sleep seriously.
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I've always considered a "fit" person to be one who can balance a working life with being a wonderful neighbour and family member... and still have time to eat properly and keep an appropriate bodyfat percentage.
If your kids hate you, your dog runs when you walk in the door, yet you maintain a six-pack ab wall, great for you. I'm not sure I can include you in my definition of "fit".
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Be fit to do the tasks of life for as long as you can. Be knitted.
– Dan John, from Attempts