Big Is Inside

You FEEL small.  And you know how THAT goes.  That low feeling like you’ve shrunk, or like you’re suddenly not quite so jacked any more . . . or like you just aren’t gaining the BIG size you want . . .

You know how it is to "feel small" . . .

But there’s a funny thing to remember about feelings.  Feelings come to pass, they don’t come to stay.  (Even when how they “feel” is the ONLY thing a bodybuilder wants to talk about: http://blog.bodybuilding.com/The_Real_XN/2007/03/23/bodybuilders-are-the-most-sensitive-dudes-i-
know/)

So if you keep having a sense that you’re small, you have to remember that sense is NOT actually a feeling.  That sense of “small” is actually coming from your HEAD.  It is a THOUGHT that you are stuck in — THINKING you are small.  And those thoughts bring up feelings, sure.  And like I said, feelings pass — usually relatively quickly.  But thoughts?  Well, THOUGHTS are what stick around.

Keep nurturing a thought, and it gets stronger.  Starve it and neglect a thoght, and it eventually dies out.

You USED to feed thoughts of confidence.  You used to do things and dress in ways that fed your strongest, most heroic thoughts.  

But right now, you’re choosing to feed the thoughts of smallness.  You think those thoughts so intensely that you beging to BELIEVE your small — thoughts so strong you swear you can “feel” it.

Soon, you believe it: “CRAP!” you think.  “I AM SO SMALL THESE DAYS . . . !”

And then you start to compensate.

You start wearing baggy clothes.  You start debating heavy drugs.  You spend tons of money oon supplements — WAY past your budget.  You lift poundages that not only leave you open to get hurt, they aren’t putting you ahead . . .

But all through all these things you just KEEP FEELING SMALL.  All these compansations are just feeding those thoughts.  You think you are small, you choose loose clothes, and this REMINDS YOUR BRAIN ALL DAY that you think you are small . . . like, how can you abandon a thought if you are WEARING a constant reminder of it?

Changing thoughts SEEMS hard, but it is actually as easy as changing clothes . . . which in THIS case may be the start ot the process.

This is a thought plaguing you, though.  It is NOT a “feeling”.  

YOU CAN NOT CONTROL FEELINGS.  But you CAN CONTROL THOUGHTS.

You ave a choice where you put your energies . . . you have a choice what you focus on, and where you put your attention.

Put your attention on all the things that remind you of being small, and sure enough, you will think small thoughts most of your day.  

Put your attention on things that make you think BIG, and soon you will be back to believing you are of INCREDIBLE size and quality.

No one can TELL you you are big.  Big is INSIDE.  Big is not a set of feelings . . . it is a set of thoughts and beliefs.  Big is something bodybuilders DO, not necessarily always something we ARE.  It is something you think, not always something you see.  Big is something you BELIEVE.

And, via bodybuilding, your body is a way of EXPRESSING those big beliefs.  

What was it that made you think big in the past?  What brings your big OUT to the world to witness?

Was it the pump in your pecs after a heavy bench?

Was it when you wear that one killer tank that fits just oh-so-right?

Is it when you advance in strength at the gym, and write down a BIGGER number in your log?

Is it when you dream, about your big future?  Dreams are just big thoughts about the big stuff that hasn’t yet happened . . . do dreams of mass and powerful strength in the future bring your big out?

WHAT BRINGS YOUR BIG OUT?  What thoughts are big for you?

And then, once you recall those big thoughts, now go relocate the BEHAVIORS that encourage those thoughts.

Bodybuilding is not a sport of thinking.  Bodybuilding is also not a sport of “feeling”.  Bodybuilding is a sport of DOING.  it is not just enought o have big thoughts . . . you also have to ENCOURAGE those big thoughts in your behavior . . .

Wearing baggy clothes encourages SMALL thoughts.  Those thoughts bum you out.  That low feeling is a FEELING.  And it would go away . . . except you keep getting reminded of small thoughts because of what you’re wearing . . . . those reminders then keep you THINKING about small . . . and then you get that low feeling . . . and it would pass EXCEPT for the fact that you’re still in those clothes . . .

And on and on.

See the vicious cycle?

It is NOT your feelings that are the problem.  Those feelings would just as easily go away quickly.    VERY QUICKLY.  Then be gone . . .

The problem is your THOUGHTS.  You are NOT doing enough to REMIND YOURSELF TO THINK BIG.  And you are doing TOO MUCH THAT MAKES YOU THINK SMALL.  Your thoughts are trapping you the maze . . .

Start picking things to do that bring back those big thoughts.

But it is ABOUT THE DOING.  Like even now — DON’T JUST SIT HERE READING AND THINKIN!  Get your butt up!  GO DO THINGS THAT MAKE YOU THINK BIG!

Go lift something!

Go change clothes!

Go hit poses!

GO DO THE STUFF THAT REMINDS YOU OF THE BIG INSIDE!

And then that big on the inside will come outside . . .

And you’ll feel definitely feel that.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pm and is filed under The XN Files, A Bodybuilding Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.