Make Your Own Ingredients

           Thought I was talking about food didn't you? Seriously why would I do that to you after just having the biggest feast of the year? Damn you guys need to pay attention. What I’am going to talk about is creating recipes for workouts, finding those little things that can help build your body like you were cooking an incredible meal.

            It’s important to pick the right ingredients to create something great and exciting. You don’t always know how to find those ingredients so what do you do, experiment. Find the best exercises for you that will give you a run for your money and have you begging for more or you've had enough. To me creating workouts is a lot more fun than looking at someone else’s. Think of it this way, would you rather have crappy Taco Bell or would you like to make your own kick ass tacos with the things you put into it? That’s what a lot of the muscle magazines and other types of training the fitness industry offers, it looks awesome advertised but in the end it’s just going to make you sick and not want to exercise. Build your own set of exercises you learned and see how they work for you and your goals.

            Sometimes every once in a while you want to spice things up. You want to add that extra kick that’ll get right in the heat of your training. I like to work on legs and grip these days because it gets me fired up and I just love challenging those exercises, every now and then my mix of those methods can get a little stale so I’ll add in a couple things like some flexibility work or move around like an animal in the wild just having a good ole time. Sometimes spicy even just a touch can make all the difference just like in your food; even just a hint of something will make it taste completely different than usual.

            Now I know what you’re thinking “dude you have been talking about food so why would you compare workouts with food?” Good question, yes I didn't want you to think about food but at the same time food & exercise go together like a horse and carriage, the carriage isn't going to pull itself now is it? The ultimate ingredient for having a great workout isn't always what you came up with, there’s only one that is missing that most people don’t put into and it gives them that extra push, that will to keep going and that’s your determination, add that in with everything else and see how far you go. Without it you’re just having random mixes and you don’t have the right idea how to turn it into something incredible.

            Create what you want, find your own recipe and experiment with it. It’s not always going to come out good but once you find the right ingredients it’ll be the best workouts you've ever had and it’s organic and full of freedom. Don’t copy someone else’s ingredients otherwise you’re just second guessing yourself and don’t have the will power to say “What can I do with this and how can make it be just as good if not better?” Be yourself and turn into a mighty chef of fitness. Get to it and have fun.

Choosing Your Own Path

            On our path to our very own individuality we are influenced by different people like family members, best friends, athletes, confidante, maybe your boss in a good or bad way either way somehow we are influenced by what is around us and what we watch, listen or that energy that just feels right. We learn from our influences who we become and what will be our destiny. Don’t try to be like your idol or anybody because they’re already taken, make a habit to learn from them to develop your own way to be who you truly want to be.

            The one thing nobody can ever teach is discovering things for yourself. In the Disney 90’s classic Hercules; Herc is becoming a rising star in the town of Thebes because of his heroic efforts to slay everything that crosses him, he’s got merchandise named after him but Zeus his father tells him that’s not the path or the secret to becoming a true hero. Herc must discover something within himself in order to a true individual and heroic figure. In the Fitness world, the general population looks to the biggest trend of weight loss, faster strength gains, quicker results and doing it with less effort when in fact it’s not real. To make things happen to build your body, it takes effort but not always physical strength but by the strength of your will and discovering what works best for you.

            Heading more towards building your body, people believe that in order to achieve that they need to be in a specific place  (Gym for example) where there are specific instructions to do this weight or this cardio machine or lifting up this heavy or light barbell or dumbbell. In reality that’s just one place where you have really more than enough places to go to make gains. Make your surroundings your strengths. When I was in Lake Tahoe earlier this month, the nearest gym was miles away and we pretty much stayed near the lake and the cabins so what could I do, I improvised by going swimming and swim hard, climb on the rocks using MovNat type training to shift, push, pull, grip and squat in many directions, lift heavy rocks by pressing, deadlifting, carrying and tossing them. That’s a hell of a workout and you never know what’s going to happen. Make the effort to be creative and use what you have around you to make the greatest benefit. The art of discovery is only something you can do, nobody else can do it for you.

            One of the greatest discoveries you develop when broadening your horizons and going on a path that is of your own choosing, learn the art of being flawless in everything you do. It’s very difficult to do and it takes time and patience but when it starts to happen, everything changes for the better and you’ll have that magnetic attraction towards people and you will find within the strength of your heart that no matter what happens, you will seem to feel alert and being at ease even in the toughest of times. You can have your own path and do anything you want in your own life. People will make you choose and steer towards something that’s more for them than it ever will be for you. Don’t let them because if you do, you’ll lose sight of who you really are and what will become of you. Walk on it, run it, play hackysack  on it whatever but find your own path and let no one stop you.

Creating Your Own Story

 Ever since we were children, we were always fascinated by stories of courage, fearlessness, worthy battles and the power love overcomes. Young girls wanted to be princesses and fair maidens, guys wanted to be a superhero or a prince that saves the day. Many of us grew up watching our fantasies, even when I was little I had books read to me, mostly Disney stuff and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We love these stories because they show us what a world would be like of exotic creatures, powerful men, beautiful women and sights that only imagination can with hold. Why not build your own story later on in life or even at a young age?

 A lot of parents go through a lot for their children; it’s a fact and no matter how hard your parents get to you, just remember what they sacrificed to get you going somewhere. Some parents just put too much on their kids and way too soon too, hate to burst your bubble but I've seen kids my age back in the day either being too spoiled or gotten nothing at all. Even certain children are destined to do something because it’s written out for them. To me if you want to learn anything on your own, it’d building your own destiny. Not saying you should defy your family but for the most part, not one person knows you better than yourself. What is your true destiny? It’s a matter of what you learned growing up and finding your true calling.

 Some kids get so spoiled that on one side of the coin, they take it for granted and just feel like life is given to them and don’t have to take on any real responsibilities, on the flip side, they hate being like that and want to learn what it’s like to not have everything on a silver platter and look to things that make them happy. Being happy is about being who you are and no matter what life throws at you; you’re at peace at what you do. It’s difficult to find true happiness but it’s not impossible. It takes practice but with the right resources and environment you can create your own happiness and look to people to share it with.

 I've fought all my life to be strong, be smarter, learn to use my own disabilities as strengths instead of weaknesses and learned to educate myself later on in life. For years I've had issues mentally, physically and very much emotionally that after so long it’s come down to how I create what I want for myself. I've been helped many times and still do on certain things but instead of taking them for granted, I’m thankful and take advantage of what I've learned to create what I always wanted to do. Being helped is never a bad thing, it’s the right time to be helped is when it gets complicated at times but in those moments, you know who the right people are who have helped you succeed.

 The real fight is not battling who’s the better man, it’s a pleasurable struggle to find what’s best for YOU!!!  We have belief systems, laws, rules and many other things in between but when you fight for the right reasons you are a stronger person for it. Certain people follow others either because they’re so into what they believe that they lost track of themselves or follow because they’re desperate and nothing has worked for them or they’re the rare ones who follow to learn to become a leader themselves. I don’t follow any one person that sparks my interests but I learn from how they do things and create ideals from their influence. Fighting is another look at rebelling but fighting with the right intentions builds a foundation to how you build your own destiny.

 Do Fairy Tales exist? In some ways I’d like to believe so. It doesn't matter if you believe in Dragons or true love’s first kiss or even marching into battle to save a kingdom from annihilation, the real fairy tales are the ones that fight to find happiness and get it when it was at its peak of ending and triumphed over darkness. No matter how you look at fictionalized stories, it’s your story that makes everything worthwhile and who knows, true love could be right around the corner or it’ll take you a few years one way or another you will find it and it will make your life the way you always dreamed of.

 Every one of us has a story. We are born, we live, we die simple as that or is it? Your life has many beginnings and part of many eras but it’s how you write it in your mind and your actions that build that dark or light void that we all come to grips with but it isn't your destiny to have your story written out by someone else, you write it yourself and take action with it than you’ll learn to true meaning of your own ending. How do you want your story to end? Think about it.