What I love about athletics, sports and the expression of fitness is that it applies to so much about being human. Moving the body has taught me about aging, life, and what true strength really is (that answer has less to do with rigidity than it does more so with vulnerability).
With this, we need to have goals or some type of aim if we wish to excel in any endeavor we pursue in life. Not having goals generally tends to aid a lack of confidence or lost sense of purpose with living. I know that a lot of us will not set goals for the fear of failure. It’s convenient in this way but costly to the heart.
In reading ‘The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness In A Changing World’, it is stated that “(In life) we need goals to be inspired, to grow, and to develop, but at the same time we must not get overly fixated or attached to these aspirations. If the goal is noble, your commitment to the goal should not be contingent on your ability to attain it, and in pursuit of our goal, we must release our rigid assumptions about how we must achieve it. (Peace of Mind) comes from letting go of our attachment to the goal and the method.”
This seems opposite from what I’ve come to learn growing up. People thrive on old stories from the “glory days.” Of course we have that treasured moment in our heart that will carry on, but we shouldn’t allow it to stop us from continuing to thrive further, and we shouldn’t allow our health to succumb to age. We must keep setting goals and adapting to new ways of conquering them. It is true. There is no fixed method.
When we dawn on this truth, there is not just peace of mind brought to us, but also justice. Now, justice is something thought of that is served only in the realm of law and politics. Justice comes in the form of renewed fairness and that can be found in many realms; especially those in which we preserve our inner strength. Fitness and exercise bring fairness through conquest of realistic goals.
Justice is in arriving or arrival of a goal. It is not vengeance or redemption of any sorts, or making up for any time lost. It is simply an arrival from a noble effort. Whether or not you are championed for your actions ultimately becomes insignificant. What is built are bonded relationships with the people who were around you along the way.
Trey Tompkins is a local resident who writes fitness columns for the Record-Herald.
