You don’t have to be the best, just do your best
This has come up twice in as many days. I was talking to my son yesterday who was upset that he could not do what his brother seems to find so easy to do and he is older than his brother. We were walking in the park with weights doing shoulder presses, hammer curls, lateral, and front raises. The younger of the two pushed hard and kept going even when it hurt, while the older kept quitting before he could have possible felt any burn. Of course during the event I kept telling him to keep going don’t quit, don’t give up, but still to no avail. When it was all over he was sullen, when asked what was up he was angry that he was not as good or better than his brother, and thought of his self as an embarrassment to me. That’s when I told him that I was just like him at his age, always quitting and jealous of other success. Until the day I was told by a wise master on a Kung Fu movie and it struck home. You don’t have to be the best; you must do your best. I think this applies to all things. In bodybuilding there seems to be a lot of effort put forth, your whole life style is changed. I am just learning this. With all you give it should be for yourself, not a title. Do your best, give your all and if that earns you the title of the best, well then it is well deserved because you gave it everything you had to get it, but even if you fall short of what is considered the best, You can always be satisfied that you never cut corners, you never cheated, you always gave everything, you always gave your best. In my eyes that makes you the best.
January 26, 2009 at 11:01 am
Very nice. My son is not good in sports but he tries and that’s what I keep reminding him…as long as he did his best there is nothing to be upset about.
What your son is doing is a great start. He may not be the "best" but if he’s doing something he enjoys than he’s definitely not doing anything wrong.