Milson
Milsonian
Supporter
- 3,376
- 263
That's awesome man, thanks so much for your response. Your poker analogy makes me laugh because that's been in the air for me too....during flu my college friend group has started a weekly zoom poker game. Two hour cash games just shooting the shit with enough money to get our attention but only just...and like you said, there's a big difference in regret level depending on how "on" you were when you made the decisions you made, even at that loose level.Wow man, first off let me say that I appreciate your time and consideration in writing this post. Have zero fear that you're being perceived in anything but a friendly manner and that I enjoy the wisdom of other people's experience and perspective. Good vibes spirit solidly intact.
I can tell you that my earlier posts regarding my recent injuries were written at the peak of my frustration, and I'll be honest in this anonymous-ish forum and admit that I've spent the last few weeks in the first real depression that I've experienced in many years. However, I'm currently in a much better spot and have begun rounding the corner on this little funk.
I love what you wrote and I can identify with your speech in several ways. I hope this can be taken in the nature it is intended, but most things don't come to me with a great deal of struggle. For that reason powerlifting has become very important to me because I've had to work harder for the things I've accomplished in this domain than almost any other. One of the reasons the timing of all of this is particularly hard - because I was coming back from one of my first experiences with underperformance on the platform that I could directly attribute to my own poor effort in the preceding off-season training block. I had vowed never to let that happen again and had a brutal off-season followed by one of the best meet preps of my life and that was when I had to drop out of prep about a year ago now. It still leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth that the last time I was able to compete I took my ability for granted.
It also reminds me of when I played cards for a living (a couple years in my 20's in Vegas). I never got upset at an early out in a tournament if I was making the right plays and got donked by some tourist. But when I was playing loose or made a stupid decision or didn't wait for my spot and I got outed that way...I got pretty upset.
Dude you said:
"The few times I have actually given myself permission to say I worked hard enough, I have never regretted it afterward. Ever."
That's some of the truest shit I ever read, and echoes very closely my guiding principles in life.
Anyways I do have to get back to work but I think we agree on goals also. When you get too specific about things you set yourself up for resentments. Still, I've given myself until I'm 40 to go after a 2k total (a meet where your heaviest single completed rep on squat, bench and deadlift together total over two thousand pounds) and I'm not gonna be able to shake that one.
I'm not taking this laying down, I'm still out in my gym 3x a week doing upper body training without loading my feet. A lot of larsen press work - basically I'm still doing all my programmed bench work but with my feet off the ground, I'll come back with a monster bench. Tomorrow I have the next appointment with my surgeon to get new x-rays and (hopefully) permission to walk on it again. In the long term (another) 6 weeks is the blink of an eye and I'm still uniquely positioned and privileged to get to continue my training at all.
Makes sense with the plants too, as it does with most things in life. Take the time to do things right, keep the effort high and yourself honest and usually the results will reflect that. So often in life the results of anything or everything we do are a reflection of our own integrity.
Thanks again for the thoughts and words brother.
BR
Btw, that poker game? Seven months later of almost every week and nobody is more than one really good or bad week from even in either direction ....if that isn't an evenly skilled group lol ..yes we have a spreadsheet bc cmon.
Last edited: