When Justin quit training with me, he was about 20 years old. He had just finished his second year at a local Jr. College and was off to a university out of state to finish his education. Like so many others before, it was fun watching this small shy boy develop into a confident, 6’2”, 200 pound martial arts athlete. He was a great student and I was going to miss him, but he promised to stay in touch and keep up his training while he was away. I was glad to hear that as he had great potential.
Last week, I saw him again. It had been over 10 years and he looked… well… 30ish--which I guess isn’t bad when you are 30, is it? What stood out the most was not the fact it had been 10 years, but the 50 pounds that he had put on. At 6’2”, he carried it well and was far from obese. But what concerned me most was not his current weight as much as it was the direction he was going. If he kept this up, in another 10 years he would be 300 pounds and climbing. Fortunately, he shared the same concern and actually it was the reason he had come back in. By his own admission, he said to me, “I took a look at the direction I was headed and I didn’t like what I saw!”
I’m proud of Justin and happy to have him training with us again. He is a fine young man, recommitted to his health and I am confident he will do it. Since I saw him last week, I have been thinking about what he said and I believe that we should all probably take a good look at the direction we are headed to see if we like the view.
So my friends, which direction are you headed?
