Bigger Stronger Faster…than what?

I hope Christopher Bell doesn’t mind me referencing his documentary that deals with the issue of steroid use in America. I’m not into hobby horses per se but Bell brought an interesting subject to the fore – Self Acceptance.

When I was an undergrad at Chapman University I remember dropping something off at a newspaper when some guy said to me, “Hey man you ever think about boxing?” I said…well I can’t say what I said but “no” was the gist of it. I’ve been 6’5″ for the last 14 years or so and at that time I couldn’t have weighed more than 200 lbs. So let’s say I did want to box. At what level? A little heavier and I could fight heavyweight or light heavyweight maybe. I know nothing about boxing. What I do know is that if I wanted to gain 15 pounds of muscle it’d take drugs to make it happen. STOP. There’s lots of sports where I could use 15 lbs. In fact that extra beef might give me an advantage. But would getting the extra 15 via a chemical assist constitute cheating, even if there were no harmful side effects?

See, Bell interviewed people from both sides of the steroid debate and interjected with insights of his own. His own family members were at the center of the documentary as he and his two brothers spoke candidly about their experiences with steroid use. Occasionally Bell even drifted into other professions like the military, music and even academia where the substances banned in athletics are legal to help with concentration. He pointed out a clear double-standard when it comes to taking performance enhancing drugs but here’s the reason for my free advertisement of his work. It all boils down to people avoiding natural processes meant to help you live a life of distinction. In other words, the course of events drives much of what happens in life and directs people toward places they should be and yet we’re constantly looking for loopholes. I had my shot with basketball as a player.

I never took steroids, HGH or the like but I did have to take 800 mg Motrin just to suit up during my last attempt at the NBA. I didn’t know it in 2005 but I had developed patellar tendonitis, a condition in which the tendon attaching the knee cap to the shin becomes scarred, inflamed and extremely painful. So my options were stronger legal/illegal meds, surgery or REALITY. I ended up choosing REALITY by no noble scruples of my own. I am foolish enough to pursue a pipe dream but by the time I was pushing 30 I was about to marry a wonderful lady and I had begun accepting myself for who I was, not who I thought I was. If not being first means you’re last than Ricky Bobby would’ve hated being 99% of the people on Earth.

The real “you” could be hiding behind the false “you”. Today, my wife told me, “Basketball used to be about you and now what you’re doing with 6ixthman is about serving others.” So wow. I could have done the medication, the surgery maybe even HGH but maybe having not done those things has allowed me to accept who I am – someone who loves serving people through the vehicle of athletics.  If you wish to enjoy your life, your job, your family you would do well to pay attention to the sign posts. No one needs to cheat to win. Cheating is just one more sign that many of us are playing the wrong game. Compete to be the best YOU or you’ll destroy YOU trying to become someone else.