[quote]Professor X wrote:
Hack Wilson wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I have no doubt there are some people who might think that I am too big at my current weight. Does that mean I have mental issues because of it? I may be crazy, but it isn’t because I wanted big muscles and to be stronger than most people.
Thanks, “Professor” X. I think this is a good example of the bodybuilding phsychosis. “I wanted big muscles and to be STRONGER THAN MOST PEOPLE.” You are measuring yourself according to how you compare with other people. Not according to your own performance.
Actually, I do lift to better my own performance. Once you do pass up most people in the gym, there is no one else by yourself to compete against. Unless I am training at a gym with several competitors or powerlifters who are actually serious, why would I compare myself to people weaker than me? As a beginner, I looked to people who were stronger and more developed than me for inspiration. I had a solid mental goal to shoot for and seeing that others had achieved it helped me push even harder. Why would someone paint this as a negative. Who is really the insecure one here?
Good verbal acrobatics here.
You want to be big. Why? So you stand out in a crowd? So you can have a certain image? So you look good in certain clothes? What’s that say about you?
I stood out before I ever lifted a weight. At least that is what people used to tell me. I never was someone who just “fit in”. I don’t have to try to make that happen.
I’d say it says about the same thing that it says about most ‘bodybuilders’. You’re insecure and you look for validation in how OTHERS perceive you, not in your own honest perception of yourself.
Read above. You sure do make a lot of assumptions. Why? What does that say about you that you judge other people so readily without knowing a thing about them?
I measure me against myself. I want to be stronger than I used to be. I want to improve my own performance in the competitive lifts. As a result I get bigger and stronger. But it’s not the driving goal. I don’t strut around in my little brother’s tee-shirt and pose for idiotic pictures to post, asking others, ‘How do I look? Are you impressed?’
Gee, good for you. I lift weights for myself as well. Getting a compliment every once in a while doesn’t hurt either and neither does having some kid run up to you and ask how you got that way. It shows I obviously accomplished what I set out to do.
In fact, let’s take this beyond the weight room. I don’t just stand out because of how I look. I stand out mentally and physically. Do you? What have you accomplished in life that makes you anything other than average?
Tell me how you stand out. I’ll be accused of bragging but you asked:
I attended college on an athletic (football) scholorship. I got my degree in Journalism in three years, began work on a masters degree in Public Policy. I played football professionally for one year (more on that later). I worked for a few years then went back to school to complete my Public Policy masters program then two years at Wharton School of Business (PENN) while employed by a consulting firm on the east coast. I then worked as consultant for five years before going to work for state governement in Human Services. I became director of a state agency, which I am today (although a different agency in a different state).
I am a published author (one work of fiction and two articles on subjects in which I am intersted).
I married a womaon who attended William and Mary, then Harvard.
We have a son - my greated acheivement.
Athletically I was all-state in football and baseball. I was state runner-up in wresting and on the all-state team as well. Then a three year starter in football at a Big East school.
I’ve competed in and medaled in USAW Nationals and the American Open. I was signed as a free-agent by an NFL team and was on the practice squad for one season. I’ve competed in raw powerlifting twice in local/regional meets, winning my class both times.
I’m also have a USGA handicap of 3.
I make $148,000 a year and my wife could afford to quit her $95,000 consulting job to start her own business, doing what she loves to do. She now earns more than that staying home with my son, because she - like me - stands out.
Do you stand out quite so much? Tell me all about it, Mr. Big-Fucking-Deal!
Are you saying no one should have the goal to NOT be average because it points to insecurity?
So one should never strive to make more money, get the job with more status, or go out with the truly good looking woman they got the phone number of?
According to you, anyone who pushed to be more than what they started with has some sort of “insecurity”?
That may just be the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day. Thanks for sharing, Hack.
Being a ‘Professor’, you might understand that one does not study and strive to improve their mind in order for others to see how smart they are. Some do, I think. And they stand out as the kind of asshole you seem to be, without the smart thing going for you, of course.
What is the deal with idiots using “Professor X” in quotes? That is the character in an X-Men Comic book. It has nothing to do with my profession.
X-men? Well. That’s cool. I guess.
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