"are you a follower of Neitzsche philosophy?, I personally find him unbearable depressing. I dont understand how those that follow him can find any happines in life, can you share any thoughts on this?"Here is my basic take on this...
"By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired."Franz Kafka
I tend to find a lot of paralells with existentialism, and bodybuilding. In fact it was the philosophical aspect of bodybuilding that attracted me to it, not the superficial. I was 14 and I read a copy of Arnold's: "The Education of a Bodybuilder." What fascinated me about it, even at that age, was the complete mastery that Arnold had over his life and surroundings. It became self-evident that this mastery was the result of his mental dominion, as opposed to his psyical gifts. He knew that in order to achive what he wanted in the psyical realm he first had to visualize it, accept it, and LIVE it.
Some would say that this is merely a form of self-delusion, and they would be correct, but what many do not understand, is that self-delusion is the key to a great many things. When one genuwinely believes that they will accomplish what they set out to do, (assuming that they also have an insane work ethic to match their delusion, and at least a modicum of talent in their endeavor), then they will find themselves living into their vision.
To be a bit more esoteric about this... I would say that this is also the foundation of what magickal/occultic theory is about.... its about subverting realtiy to your will. Bodybuilding is much the same thing... you have to have the will to conquer your greatest opponent... yourself... and you can extrapolate that to mean that if you have the power to overcome yourself... then all other obstacles in life become quite ordinary...and insignificant.
Another thing that fascinates me about all of this is the aspect of suffering... I know that my sucess will only be measured out in equal measure to my suffering. How much am I willing to suffer? How much pain can I push myself thru? Not just physical pain.... but mentally as well. Can I endure the monotony of a bodybuilding lifestyle, can I absolve myself of socialization that I would be enjoying if I were not entrenched in this? Can I deal with the fact that very few people can relate to what I am doing... much less those that would be in a romantic realtionship with me. The suffering one has to endure is very much a multilatteral affair.
Bodybuilding to me is just an extension of my mental war....my journey if you will. It is more of a mental endeavor then a physical one...as the mind and body are both interrelated...you can not have one function with out the other.... so where the mind goes the body will follow. We... (the people that have chosen to take this journey on)... are IMHO better then other people... not out of birthright... but because we made the decision to transcend the mundane. We are the ones that bang our heads agaisnt a wall day in and out...looking for a crack to follow. We made goals and we continue to fight inch by inch towards them. Not many others can relate to that... many people daydream... and bitch and moan... but very few have the balls to suffer for what they want out of life...
So there you have it... my meltdown! Lol
M!
Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them... there is nothing"Jean-Paul Sartre