My thanks go to Jim for posting this. For those who don’t know, I’ve ranted at him before about other articles, and he has patiently responded and suggested that I write my own if I felt that strongly. This time I do. Maybe it’s because it’s the holidays. I don't know.

Let me say up front that I have never won a powerlifting or bodybuilding competition (let alone compete in them), but I have enjoyed attending a few throughout the years. At the ripe old age of 45 (just had my first “old man” physical recently), I have been lifting almost exactly 30 years. Just like in the old Muscle and Fitness articles (except that this part actually happened), I received a bench press and a 110 pound set of plastic weights set for my fifteenth birthday. I’ve been working out in the well, “untidy” part of the gym ever since.

I have spent more than a few Friday and Saturday evenings (when the gyms are sparsely populated and you can get work done) under weights and the fluorescent lights. My “bonafides” are only that I have loved lifting and getting stronger pretty much all of my adult life. Now, I’m trying to pass on to my two sons not just the love of lifting (though they too train diligently), but the ethos of finding a goal and working hard to accomplish it.

Accept this as fact—to be really good at anything almost requires that you establish your priorities and act a bit selfishly on occasion. It’s no coincidence, I think, that the most successful of us have a good support network, those who said we could do it or those who just inspired us by their actions. But in my view, one must always be grateful and never forget his or her obligation to give back. To do otherwise disrespects the gifts that you were fortunate to have been given.

Remember that you can do the things you do because someone else made it possible for you. In one way or another, you can workout because of someone else’s sacrifice for you. If you are still not convinced, then I offer to you this little reality check. Whether you agree or disagree, I can promise you that a bunch of our kids are facing threats most of us couldn’t dream of in Iraq and could give a “crap” whether you lockout or not. And yet, they are there.

Especially in this holiday season, remember that the games really are just that—games. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t “important” or that they can’t somehow help someone assign some grander value to their lives. Nor does it mean that we can’t use lifting and other forms of physical training to help build confidence and character in our young (and even not so young) people.  The important point here is that exercising, whether it’s someone just trying to take control of his or her life by using a stationary bike for the first time or someone lifting monstrous poundages ala the folks who write so ably for this site, is a privilege, not a right.

Athletics are important in our lives because we have the luxury of appreciating them. Please be grateful for all of your gifts this holiday season and make sure that you give back where you can.

Happy holidays,

Pat McNichol

P.S. And where does Corey Lidle fit into all of this? Ultimately, if your family loves you anyway, it doesn’t matter what me or anyone else says. THAT is the “big picture” lesson I get from Lidle’s death. Corry Lidle’s death was tragic and, if nothing else, a reminder that we need to be grateful for, stay close to, and care for those we love like there may not be a tomorrow. That is my perspective.