1 vs 99
No, it's not the game show. I'm referring to a principle that a friend told me about. But before getting to it, let me describe my recent random travel.
So I've done what I thought was never possible: I've joined a gym. Not that I sought it out, cause I never thought I'd be there, but my father has left his old Tae-Kwon-Do studio, and has been super excited to join a gym. And he needed a workout buddy, so there I went.
And whoa. The gym is like a foreign land, full of opulence and strange outfits, which show off the opulence. And it's a strange kind of opulence; it's the "I have everything - job, car, health, AND hairless bulging muscles" kind of opulence. There is so much ego, you can cut through it with a knife (borrowing from the tension saying). Needless to say, it's been an adjustment for me.
Oh, and funny thing. Since I'm working out, I don't wear my glasses, so it's even funnier, since it's like being in a swimming pool all of the time. And a little comical, since all of the folks are wearing stuff to be noticed, and to accentuate minor details, like the shape and veins-or lack thereof- on certain muscles. It's funny cause I can't even make out the details of which I'm supposed to be so intimidated/attracted by. Silly pastels. (Here you can see that there's a light at the end of this ego-tunnel.)
What made me come around and finally feel comfortable, is my friend from South Carolina, who has been living with the principle, "1 vs 99". In life, we're faced by tides of seemingly unstoppable forces that try to move us in a certain direction -- these are the 99. The innumerable masses. But if we are not swayed by these masses, or at least take a stand not to be swayed, then we become the 1. The rock in the river, the mosquito on the branch.
Being the 1 is difficult, because the 1 does not benefit from the same benefits of the 99; the 1 does not gain the 99's momentum, their power. There is also loneliness, as the 1 is alone.
But I've discovered that once one embraces the 1, the 99 disappear. It's like there was no tide at all. I go to the gym, and I'm there for a short period, but the period perfectly matched for the betterment of my body. I workout, not to acheive a 99ness, or to be THE 99th of the 99, but
because I am not afraid of myself. I am not afraid to be whole. I am not afraid that in my wholeness, I will not look like a 99er. I am not afraid that in my workouts, I will not do what the 99 do, that I may cut across the stream of the 99 in their constant, never-ending self-hating movement.
And I'm living proof that when you finally embrace the 1, the 99 disappear. They may be all around, somewhere out there, but they hold no power. They disappear like the nothingness they embrace. Now, it's looking brighter from my swimming-pool vision, and I am a proud gym member. Whadya know, Random Traveler Strikes Again!
So I've done what I thought was never possible: I've joined a gym. Not that I sought it out, cause I never thought I'd be there, but my father has left his old Tae-Kwon-Do studio, and has been super excited to join a gym. And he needed a workout buddy, so there I went.
And whoa. The gym is like a foreign land, full of opulence and strange outfits, which show off the opulence. And it's a strange kind of opulence; it's the "I have everything - job, car, health, AND hairless bulging muscles" kind of opulence. There is so much ego, you can cut through it with a knife (borrowing from the tension saying). Needless to say, it's been an adjustment for me.
Oh, and funny thing. Since I'm working out, I don't wear my glasses, so it's even funnier, since it's like being in a swimming pool all of the time. And a little comical, since all of the folks are wearing stuff to be noticed, and to accentuate minor details, like the shape and veins-or lack thereof- on certain muscles. It's funny cause I can't even make out the details of which I'm supposed to be so intimidated/attracted by. Silly pastels. (Here you can see that there's a light at the end of this ego-tunnel.)
What made me come around and finally feel comfortable, is my friend from South Carolina, who has been living with the principle, "1 vs 99". In life, we're faced by tides of seemingly unstoppable forces that try to move us in a certain direction -- these are the 99. The innumerable masses. But if we are not swayed by these masses, or at least take a stand not to be swayed, then we become the 1. The rock in the river, the mosquito on the branch.
Being the 1 is difficult, because the 1 does not benefit from the same benefits of the 99; the 1 does not gain the 99's momentum, their power. There is also loneliness, as the 1 is alone.
But I've discovered that once one embraces the 1, the 99 disappear. It's like there was no tide at all. I go to the gym, and I'm there for a short period, but the period perfectly matched for the betterment of my body. I workout, not to acheive a 99ness, or to be THE 99th of the 99, but
because I am not afraid of myself. I am not afraid to be whole. I am not afraid that in my wholeness, I will not look like a 99er. I am not afraid that in my workouts, I will not do what the 99 do, that I may cut across the stream of the 99 in their constant, never-ending self-hating movement.
And I'm living proof that when you finally embrace the 1, the 99 disappear. They may be all around, somewhere out there, but they hold no power. They disappear like the nothingness they embrace. Now, it's looking brighter from my swimming-pool vision, and I am a proud gym member. Whadya know, Random Traveler Strikes Again!