Still Finding A Way Through The Responsibilities, Kids, and Stress

Bodybuilding is a life time commitment.  I knew going into bodybuilding that it would take up a lot of my time.  Bodybuilding requires proper nutrition, sleep, and weight training.  All three components have to be balanced in order to make gains.   When I didn't have a full time job and a family I could devote my time to bodybuilding without any problem. Now that I am older I find it is much harder to stay on a balanced plan.  It is much harder to develop a regular habit of training that is not in the way of family life.  Some days I look back and think just how easy my life was when I was just a selfish bodybuilder training and eating perfectly.  Life was much simpler then.  However, the fruits of life only come to those who go beyond what they are capable of becoming.  Though I had more time to train and could eat all I wanted when I wanted, I was missing something in my life.  I was very lonely during my selfish years and it made me drift away from my family.  I was headed down the road of selfish abandonment.   I probably could have continued to live the selfish life and follow my dreams of becoming a prominent bodybuilder, but to me there had to be more to life than just looking good.  Once I got married and had children my life finally made sense to me.  FAMILY is what it is all about.  There is nothing more gratifying than to have a bad day and to come home to 2 little boys tackling me telling me that I am the greatest dad in the world.  It is moments like that that keep me grounded and happy making all the tumulchous malarky of the day disappear .  Just like everyone I too have stressful days that seem to never end.  Sometimes I don't even get a chance to eat as much as I want to.  My body is so regular to eating at the same time everyday and if I am off schedule I can instantly feel my body going into catabolism.   In the past missing a meal would put me in a tailspin of anxiety.  I would think to myself that I would lose weight if I couldn't eat.  Now I am older and wiser.  It is not all about me anymore, I have a family who depends on me for survival.  I have four mouths to feed and to protect.  Even though I have a tremendous amount of responsibility of  supporting a family, I still find time to bodybuild.  I have learned over the years how to develop the best program that works for me in less time.  Matter of fact, I have developed a better plan then when I could train for longer periods.  The system that I have developed wouldn't have been discovered if I didn't have a family.  Adversity often times perpetuates a person to do great things.  When there are no challenges present and we live a life of "same ole, same ole" we end up complacent and bored.  It is when the going gets tough that we get motivated to get out of the tough situation and create something great.   As the responsibilities of my life began to mount I could have either aborted the situation or use the situation to learn how to make things better.  I chose to take it head on and to become a stronger, better person.  My life is richer and more abundant than it was  before.  I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to share my life with my wife and to be able to  teach my boys about the human experience.  I continue to bodybuild but not for myself as much as for family.  My sons need a father who can be with them for many years and I train every day to be able to keep up them for many years to come.  

The bottom line is that even though  I have  a tremendous amount of responsibilities in my life it all means nothing if it wasn't for the support of my family.  All I do I do for Avery, Perrin and Joy.