I'm sure many of you can relate to this...
There are a few statements I've heard my entire training life:
"Why sacrifice so much when it's just lifting weights?"
This always seems to be followed with, "I'd respect it more if it was a real sport or a sport that paid top dollar prize money," and so on.
The thing that's always been interesting to me is what is the dollar amount they are talking about?
Would $100 prize money earn their respect?
Would $1000 prize money earn their respect?
Would $100,000 earn their respect?
A million dollars, would that earn their respect?
See, this is where I'm confused. When did respect come with a dollar sign? Especially when we're talking about your own self-respect and your self-worth.
These are reasons why lifters do what they do. There are reasons why I did what I did and will continue to do what I do. And those reasons had nothing to do with a dollar sign and everything to do with what I value.
After over three decades of lifting, I have regrets. But I don't have regrets due to the sacrifices I've made and the injuries I've accumulated. Those were my price of the platform. I NEVER wanted to look back on my powerlifting career and ask, "What if?". That was (and still is) scarier to me than dying because it means I didn't live the life I wanted to live.
I decided to do a sport that doesn't pay a million dollars a year. It doesn't have contracts, doesn't have professional statuses like other sports do. I paid and will keep paying the price for what I decided to do. That doesn't change the fact that it has worth to me. I have my own personal goals and they are worth what I am willing to sacrifice for them.
How does money matter? Because it didn't matter to me when it came to the sacrifices that I was making for the sport and the damage I was doing to my body.
I knew at the time, the same way all the lifters today know what the risks are and what the consequences are. They're not doing it for the money. At the core, they're doing it for their self-respect and dignity.
If there is a dollar amount associated with that, I see that as a bigger problem. I would ask, "Why in the fuck are you doing this, knowing that it's going to damage your body for the rest of your life, just for the money?" Don't most professional athletes end up broke anyways?
I'd rather see somebody do something that has risks that can impact the rest of their life for their self-respect over money any day. It's better to die proving something to yourself than others. If you haven't figured this out yet- others don't care. At best they care about YOU - not what you have done or will be able to do.
To this day I am still confused when people say, "I would respect it more if it were a sport that paid a lot of money."
Maybe I'm missing something here, and maybe I'm not.
Being a prisoner of our own minds isn't a bad thing.
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