#youaremagnificent

I train my friend William an hour a week on Saturday mornings. And by train, I mean mostly I run him through a quick movement screen(SFMA if you're a fitness pro) and then prescribe whatever gem of an exercise or two he may need to work on most on that particular day. And the rest of the time, we spend talking about ourselves, and spirituality, and well... the universe, man. Typical topics can be anything from water quality, to government, to chanting.

I can't tell you exactly what William does, but suffice it to say he is a holistic health consultant of sorts. He is someone who has made a profession of promoting a better way of life and really fighting the good fight. He gets it. And we shoot the shit and ponder the meaning of it all. These conversations serve us both very well. They serve our souls very well. And so I thought I might share some of our conversations in hopes that you lovely people can start dreaming a better world the way we do.

So William was explaining to me that he really thinks his SI joint pain points to a bigger philosophical disagreement in his mind. Yeah, really this is the kind of stuff we jam about, but stay with me here.

I looked at him puzzled. So he directed to me this question. "Do you really know how magnificent you are?" And then he proceeded to thank me for the help I provide him with and reinforce how he gushes to his wife about my skills as a trainer. 

And I paused to think about this question and his high praise with a little blush. I knew he could see I was thinking how I could probably be better at this or that thing, self-questioning excuses... and before I could even put words together, he said "Well that's your answer isn't it?"

And he's right. My hesitation gave me away. I have a very annoying habit of forgetting what I love about myself, about realizing how great it is to just be me. The person I am. Good at the things I do. 

Half the time, I have no idea how magnificent I am.

So he watched this all sort of click in my mind and then explained his pain. He said that everything for us in the hips and pelvis. It's the source of all our power, where we hold our strength. Where this SI joint is. And that this pain of his is the result of a power struggle he's dealing with personally. He's not realizing his true potential. And that it's a problem.

And it is a big problem because William is a pretty amazing human being.

As a side note: You don't have to necessarily agree with that specific pain connection. That's some yet unexplainable, unsupported mind/body connection stuff that I just happen to believe after almost 9 years in the personal training game, dealing with all kinds of physical pains that my clients walk in the door with. I'll do my best in a later blog post to try to explain why it really does make sense. Emphasis on the "try."

That being said, we should all be able to eagree that the second half, about not realizing our own potential, that that problem has the potential to be the most staggering unaddressed conflict in our lives if not resolved. That's some profound shit my friends.  This post will definitely explain that part.

And so I said to William that I truly do know deep down that I'm magnificent. I never would have survived this past year and pulled myself out of the mess that was my heinous environment if I didn't. I must have known I was worth it.

But I said then, "Don't you think it's kind of hard to constantly keep this knowledge in mind when people try to tell you to stay humble? I think that's the worst advice."

And William said "Yes, what does that even mean?"

What does it mean? "Stay humble." I think it means you should never get too comfortable in your own greatness, and I think that's kinda bullshit. You should know how great you are all of the time. Why not?

I mean, think about it. When we forget our own magnificence, we lose time, and we miss out on chances to dare greater, to be the best version of ourselves. We miss big windows of opportunity because we get lost in the small stuff. We worry about approval from others. We worry about failure. We worry about about all kinds of dumb garbage our brains manufacture that we shouldn't be afraid of.

And I know personally, I just make bad decisions when I forget who I am. Because I make them from a place of fear. I'm not thinking about what I really want or how I want to feel. I'm just scared and self preservation sounds more important than assuming any risk.

As William said, "That's pretty lame." Yeah William, I agree.

And so I answered back that I agreed I am magnificent. I truly do know this and I know it when I'm around others who acknowledge not only my awesomeness, but their own as well.

And this led us to make some interesting conclusions. Authority in the fitness and health spheres is often very misplaced. Consider the Tracey Anderson's and Dr. Oz's of the world. Just totally no business telling people what to do. Maybe authority figures are projecting fear on to you because they don't know how they got where they are in the first place. Maybe they feel threatened by your magnificence because they have not realized their own. Maybe it has nothing to do with you at all. 

You need to know the things you love about yourself. And you don't need to feel any shame in counting the ways. We live in a world of photo-shopped magazine ads and Insta-Facebook fabricated perfection that you need to arm yourself against. You don't need to make it any more challenging by feeling bad about being proud of yourself. 

We also concluded that getting comfortable with your own magnificence can be scary. To realize our significance begs us to action. You have to be prepared for that. It can seem like a a lot of work, to invite happiness and success into your life. And I promise you, you will when you start to really know who you are. Sometimes we're just not ready for that. And that brings us right back to why those crazy people are stepping into your space and telling you to be humble. Forget them.

And so I dare you to be magnificent every day. To question why others may tell you to check your awesomeness without questioning yourself. And to surround yourself with people who validate your greatness. Because fuck humility. Because #youaremagnificent 

On humility as a virtue, "...One of the highest. People in power are always saying so." - Yoga Jones Orange Is The New Black