Reading time: 7 – 11 minutes
1000 Pound Man. Understanding the HOW.
Last night I was hanging out at a buddies house and he started to do a little channel surfing on his new HD flat screen. While I’m not much of a TV guy myself, I was sucked into the show that we stumbled upon. It was TLC’s new series of The Worlds Fattest Man. Paul Mason is a British Chap estimated to be 1000lbs. The show is a focus on his path towards weight loss after his gastric bypass surgery and the struggle and journey that lie ahead. Below will give you a glimpse at what I was soaking up last night…
I have to be honest here. I find this absolutely disgusting and struggle to understand how this could happen to anyone at any point in our existence as human beings. The mere reality that someone was feeding him the calories necessary to get to this weight brings a relative bit of nausea to my stomach. To support and aid such behavior is as equally wrong as the big guy himself shoveling the food into his mouth. While I would like to say that I’m a guy who is sympathetic and look into the depths of my loving and caring nature to feel remorse for someone who lets themselves get to such large proportions, that just isn’t my style. I believe life is a choice. Every day we decide to live the reality at hand and there’s no one but the image in the mirror looking back at us to answer to on our current body status, day to day existence, and overall well being.
So the real question is, how does this happen? How does someone get to a point in their life where they are actually immobilized by result of their own self doing. This question popped in and out of my head all night and into this morning as I did my AM cardio and scarfed down my morning protein smoothie. And then it dawned on me, becoming clear and on some small level, it started to make sense. While I’m not condoning a 1000lb physique, I’m doing my best to empathize and dig into the depths of understanding.
My train of thought went into the perils of the current epidemic of unhappiness that uncontrollably flows across our society like the BP oil leak in our Gulf Coast. I don’t think any of us wake up in the morning and say to ourselves that we desire to be unhappy and unfulfilled. It just so happens that at some points in our lives, it just is. Somehow the journey and path we have chosen brought us to a road where the mirage of smiles and internal warmth each and every day, are overshadowed with a feeling of emptiness and lack of fulfillment. I think we are all wired to be on the other end of the spectrum, yet we’ve all been in this deep crevice of confusion and sadness.
This is when it hit me on the parallel between the 1 Ton man and our normal, conscious, happiness desiring minds allowing us, at times, to fall into deep ruts of mind numbness and mediocre lives. It’s the concept of slow progressiveness. Slowly but surly we find ourselves in situations that are not only undesirable, but actually taking away from our potential to live the best life possible. Whether it be the day to day in our career, intimate relationships, friendships, family issues, or any other dynamic of life that is weighing us down, it has been a slow build up of many months and even years to dig the hole.
While hopefully you don’t wake up one day at 1000 lbs, you very well may wake up realizing you’re not doing what is meant for you. I think it’s these moments of reflection that sitting back and re-evaluating what is truly important and will bring ultimate fulfillment in life to your every day, that makes the difference. While most of you will sit down with pen and paper and write a list that you feel will be the answer and path to YOUR individual fulfillment, I urge you to go down another route. Grab the first 5 elderly people you cross and strike up a conversation. These are the people that have ran the gauntlet of life and have come out the other side with some answers that come from life experience, not assumption. Ask what two things they would change about their lives if they could go back and do it again. More than likely you’ll hear that they would spend more time with friends and family and they would have followed and pursued their passion. While these are the two obvious answers and we all know this as the ticket, we somehow fall off that path and pursue the worldly things to fill the void and try to create our version of fulfillment. While the answer is in the simplest and purest form of tangibility lying right before our eyes, we somehow get distracted and redirected elsewhere. I challenge each of you to be the one who doesn’t wake up some day 800lbs overweight with burden and regret. Shoot for the dream and be 100% all in on every account. This is it. Your one go around track. Hit the gas, turn up your favorite tune and let the wind of change blow through your hair as you embrace a new version of life, on your terms…
Please do share with me below your dreams if it were an idealistic world with no holds bars. Dream wildly and let the vision flow.
Live, Love, and Thrive with Purpose…
On September 11th TOdd Bandiagara and I will Walk 3600 Miles from Coast to Coast to raise awareness on Childhood Obesity.
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It’s not about fat, it’s not about weight, it’s about freedom to do what you want. Being confined to a house doesn’t really constitute freedom.
I think you make a great point. Not everyone will wake up to be 1000 pounds but lots of people wake up everyday equally unhappy with their life and don’t know how to take the steps to change. In my opinion, that’s just as sad.
You know all about the freedom brother. Taking it to distances most will never come to know. I hope that everyone will have the chance to some day taste the freedom and livelihood embraced by chasing their dreams and seeking new heights in their potential.
Cheers to you Joel for setting the bar!