life

"If boys don't learn, men won't know" - Douglas Wilson

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

We burn the fat from our souls (a commentary on life)

I've re-stumbled across an Ernest Hemingway quote that has always resonated with me, "When I'm not going good, I go off where I can be alone and work the fat off my soul the way a fighter goes up into the mountains to work and train and burn the fat out of his body. Being alone and loneliness are two different things. I'll be alone but I won't be lonely.". This when I first heard it did peak my interest, but for what reasons I do not know. This past week once I heard it again, I knew that it was a profound truth for my life. Anything that has ever been a profound realization to me, or refreshed my soul has been done in solitude. Not the heart breaking solitude of a once wild beast stolen from the wild and forced into a artificial habitat and left to rot away as a spectacle for class field trips, forever alone and placed into a life without purpose. Instead this solitude is one high on a plateau over looking the world and seeing it for what it truly is and how it truly operates, as I worked to better myself and carve out a place for myself in that world which I could now witness for all its glory and deficiencies.


To understand this ideal of Hemingway's I do believe you need to be a fighter, not even in the conventional sense is necessary. But perhaps just in the way that an eternal optimist is always fighting relentlessly for the best in any situation, and always seeing the light at the end and reaching and striving for that light. The existence of knowing that in any situation you will be ok, because you have a deep seeded confidence that is unshakable. That no matter what life throws at you, there is an answer deep within as long as you stay steady on your course you can get through anything.


To find this soul refreshing burning I have always had to put my physical body in pain. Running without a goal in mind and just letting your mind escape your body it's refreshing beyond explanation, your mind is free to deal with issues completely on its own because the rest of your fear or aggression is preoccupied with your running. This leads to some of my biggest life decisions and Its been so valuable to me. This is just one method though, alot of people also are able to sort through their issues with meditation or prayer and these are great options. I just choose to break myself down through exercise and find that my decisions feel like they rebuild my soul a leaner, tougher, and smarter individual.


Yes, Life is a much more difficult and trying test then you could ever imagine. There are so many more variables then you could ever account for in your life, they're countless. Even if you do your best to learn the variables that you can control and remain vigilant, you can't always account for those you bring into your life to love, whether their friends, wives or girlfriends, or eventually children they at some point will be wronged or in a situation that you can do nothing to control. This is an area where doing what you have to and not what you wish you could do is a necessary pain. These pains can only be cleansed by burning the fat from your soul and always striving to fight for the light and the end of each test.

-Joe Guess

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

An Above Average Athlete

There are three basic principles that I believe encompasses most above average Athletes and if not most, at very least myself. First having a strong hate of being average, second having a solid athletic base and possibly a little bit of talent, third is definitely having an extrinsic motivation or a motivation that's outside of yourself. So give me a moment of your time and weigh yourself against these three requirements and see how you stack up.


To Be an above average lets say CrossFit athlete, takes a lot of things number 1 having a disdain for being average.  Tons of people when ever they see the CrossFit Games on ESPN think to themselves with a overblown entitlement that what they're seeing isn't that difficult and they themselves could easily accomplish such tasks, if it weren't for (insert excuse here). But those that can truly have the ability to reach for those heights see those athletes on the screen and only wonder how long it would take them to do that wod and are immediately inspired and driven to go learn and perfect whatever skills it will take to attack that wod.  This is a basic idea of never being satisfied with wondering you must go out and do. One of my favorite sayings even if its a little street for some peoples taste, "don't talk about it, be about it". Basically shut up turn off the TV and go outside and be awesome. If I ever do anything I want to be the best at that thing, whether that's CrossFit or being a dad, or a husband, or your job whatever it is you should strive to be the best in your field. This will require a little bit of passion for what you do, but if your this to the extreme it really doesn't need that much passion. All you truly need is an internal drive to be the best. This can be difficult for people who don't have a natural need to compete, but if competition gets you going this step should be a no brainer.


The 2nd requirement of an above average Athlete without a doubt is a solid base of Athletics and/or a blessing of talent (the 1%). Although  people who have never been an athlete their whole life do gravitate towards CrossFit it will be difficult to make the athletic adaptations necessary to succeed in the sport at an age past 25. Because without a great mind to body connection that athletics provides from adolescence through puberty, it's difficult to learn to move through Olympic lifts and high level gymnastics fluidly without those previous mind to muscle connections. You can always see it in an individuals movements who hasn't had those years of work put in getting familiar with how there body moves and is supposed to move. Now there are a few individuals who can pick up anything with unbelievable ease, and be very successful and this is possible with CrossFit but in all likely hood that individual has probably done something athletic even if not competitively at some point in their life. So if you're still in high school or Junior High get involved in some type of competitive athletics or in college you should find an organized team in whatever sport you like and train with them this might help develop some of what you missed out on as a child.


The 3rd and final requirement of an above average for example CrossFit athlete, is a motivation greater then themselves, whether your motivation is achievement for someone else or just to prove to yourself that you can. The major requirement of this step is a deep burning passion an emotional connection that can change your attitude in an instance. For some individuals this is a religious connection and a passion brought on by their religion, for others it's the scorn, or mockery of others or the lose of a loved one, or even the passion to inspire others. (I know of a CrossFit games athlete who before he was a games athlete, left his girlfriend to focus on becoming a games athlete, and that motivated her in turn to try and prove to him that she wasn't a burden on the journey and she was determined to make regionals, even though she never made it, that was her external motivation and it probably took her further then she could have ever gone on her own). There are countless athletes out there doing it to glorify the word of God and spread his message. But the 1 thing in common across these three is that it's a deep emotional connection that allows you to zone out the pain of exercise for something greater then your current situation. So forgetting that you're in pain and out of breath and remember that what you're doing goes beyond just yourself, your pain isn't about you its about having a why for what you do. Making yourself push past the physical pain because you have a deeper mental pain or desire that can only be extinguished through this process. This is also why people fall in love with the pain of working out. Because soon that relief of working out and improving brings a high that lets you know that you are improving and you are getting better.


It's a fairly simple equation but I feel like these are traits that are all learned at an early age and difficult to acquire later in life. Not to say that it's impossible I just believe that if you look across the board at above average CrossFitters this is a common Recipe. A distation of being average, a concrete athletic base, and a strong passionate external motivation.


Thanks, guys








My qualifications for writing this
3 - years of competing in CrossFit
10+ -  local comp podiums
3 - open regional qualifications 37th, 26th, 3rd
2 - individual regional appearances 26th, 13th
1 - team regional appearance 2nd
1 - team games appearance 35th
prior to CrossFit I was also on the 2009 U.S. Sanshou Team
and had 1 MMA fight victory