It's a Trap!

That is probably one of the most famous lines in Return of the Jedi. Though, I really don't know why. That phrase is a very good word to keep tucked away in your head though. Today, the world we live in is full of traps. There are lies all around us. The health and fitness world, in particular, revolves around lies. 

Here's what I mean: We are told how we should look, how we should train, and what we should take. We are told how we should look if we want to be "fit", or attractive. We are told how we should train if we want to look the way we are told how we should look. We are even told what supplements we should take when we train how we are told we should train.  Does this make sense? We are told one thing so that we can be told another!

We are told a bunch of lies; lies that are woven to get us to be dissatisfied with ourselves. Why? Well, we are likely to spend money on solutions for these lies for one thing. And, we just simply live in a fallen world that operates on lies. 

We don't need to be told how we should look. You should look like you - the you YOU can be. Not the you, you believe someone says you should be. For example, magazine covers sale false images and false ideas about how we should look. Most people that are on magazine covers have been altered in some way. The person you are looking at on the cover of that magazine, probably doesn't even look like that! Air brushing abs and other digital enhancements are used to deceive you. The very cover of most magazines is a lie. You don't even have to open the magazine to read the lie - visually, it is right in front of you already. 

If, however, you do open up the magazine, you may read about some awesome new supplement you should take to look like the person on the magazine. Maybe there is even a picture of the person taking that great tasting new formula. Question: Do you believe that person actually used that product? If they did, it was probably only on the day the picture of them holding it was made. NO nutritional supplement will create the perfect physique you are lead to believe you should have. Only hard work and a sensible lifestyle-nutrition plan can get you lean and "perfect" looking.  

Okay, enough of how we are told lies. The point is you need to be okay with who you are, and with who you can be. If you want to lose weight, great, lose weight. But do it because you want to be healthy, not because you want to conform to unrealistic lies you have been told. I do believe everyone should strive to obtain good health, it will only make your life, and the lives of your loved ones, more enjoyable. But, healthy or not, we need to learn how to be comfortable in our own skins. We need to learn how to tune out all the lies that surround us. I truly believe we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. What if we believed and focused on that instead of all the other noise we are fed? 

I chased crazy ideals for years. You know what? I will never look like Arnold Schwartzeneggar. Never. No amount of whey protein will ever be able to give me an 8 pack of abs! I will never be able to use a Norelco electric razor to shave, either. I can't grow a beard! (Is that too much information?) I can't turn my body into something that it wasn't created to be. I can maximize my mental and physical potential though, if I practice at it. I can take measures to stay as healthy as possible. I can learn to be comfortable with who I am regardless of all the lies the world says of who I should be. 

This is a very jumbled post, I know. I guess I'm just saying that there is a lot of deception out there. All those lies are used to keep us from knowing who we really are - we are wonderfully made. We can embrace who we are and maximize our potential. But we cannot become someone else, or something else. We don't need to chase after deceptions. If you are healthy and you feel good about who you are, that should be enough. You don't need to conform to unrealistic images and ideals. If your skin fits you well, wear it. You are perfect.

Be you.