Writing Contest
Here is a copy and paste of my submission into MD’s monthly writing contest:
The Weights Will Never Be Conquered
I still remember something one of my best friends told me over a year ago.
After spending over a decade addicted to crack, he managed to break free. And now it’s been another decade, and he has remained clean.
A feat few people once addicted can say.
Truly, he is one of my own personal heroes.
And aren’t those the best kind? The ones you actually know, and not just read about?
We were comparing stories one day.
It’s funny. He views what I did as harder than what he did. Yet, I am totally in awe of what my friend has accomplished.
So I said to him, “So few people do what you have done. You act like it is nothing, when really it is everything.”
And it is. I really believe that.
The success rate for recovered addicts is almost non-existent.
He went on to tell me how he knows what he did is a big thing. About how many people come to meetings and don’t stick around very long. Some only make one. There are very few people left at the five year mark, and even fewer at the ten.
That’s the moment.
I had to stop and let it soak in.
It’s been over ten years, and he still goes to meetings. That is amazing dedication.
And from talking to him, I can tell you, it’s numerous times a week.
That’s how he stays clean.
That’s how he maintains.
As hard as it is for some to lose weight and some to build muscle, there are things in this world that are harder. There are things outside of the gym you have to work on just as hard.
And yes, he is a lifter. He won his class at the state show this year. So, in the midst of it all, he still makes it to the gym.
While I work to maintain my loss, he works to maintain his life.
But the biggest lesson I learned from my friend?
He told me, “I have to stay humble, or I go right back to hell. The minute I think I’ve conquered it, I’ve lost it.”
So, let’s see. The minute I think I’ve conquered my battle with the bulge, and go back to eating the way I used to eat, I’ve lost it.
I will never conquer my weight loss or my desire to build muscle. The idea that either is conquered brings with it complacency.
And complacency lets old habits seep in.
He goes to meetings to maintain, while I go to the gym and eat healthy for my maintenance.
And while we both focus on the ongoing battle, secretly we both know the other has won. We just don’t tell each other that.
We leave the other to fight the good fight.
And maybe that’s what went through his mind when he won that state show this year…
The weights will never be conquered.
