IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

I’m just getting sick of this, so allow me to rant.  Every time I see a video of someone accomplishing some ridiculous feat of strength, I see the same dumb thing in the comments.  No, I’m not talking about the steroids accusations, I’m not talking about the bad form comments, I’m not talking about the “my back hurts just watching that” nonsense; I’m talking about the miscreants that make the video all about THEM.  And they do it in the stupidest way possible; using it as an opportunity to talk about how weak THEY are.  “Oh man, here I was happy doing only HALF of that”, “Oh wow, if I tried that I’d blow a gasket”, etc etc.  Jesus Christ; quit being so self-centered for a second and let this person have their glory.  It’s not about you!

Oh man, if I tried to get a nosebleed like that, I'd probably only get 1 nostril going!

“But I’m just pointing out how STRONG that guy is!” No you’re not; you’re trying to reinforce your toxic mediocrity by shifting attention AWAY from greatness and focusing it on weakness.  You’re trying to create a culture of under performing to justify your OWN failings rather than letting magnificence shine when it is present.  There was no doubt whatsoever that Eddie Hall was strong when he deadlifted 500kg; you pointing out that you’d be happy to deadlift 500lbs is trite and a meaningless statement that did nothing to benefit the rest of us.  Respect the lift by admiring it or by shutting up about it, but when you try to take attention away from the athlete by shifting the focus onto you, you are truly committing a crime.

And quit your compliment fishing; this isn’t a therapy session.  You don’t need someone to tell you to buck up and that everyone has to start somewhere; we all know this already.  And hey, for those of you that watch these videos and say “that’s it, I quit”; good.  Get out, because your monument to weakness is offensive and is setting us all back.  “But my self-esteem!” I HOPE your self-esteem is low, because hopefully you’ll resent yourself enough to want to make a change.  People that are content have no reason to improve; it’s the people that absolutely DETEST their very being that are going to be out there making meaningful changes.  If you want acceptance, go make a tumblr, but if you strength, quit making this about you.

You won't BELIEVE the sort of tumblrs this image shows up on...

“Hey man, I just want to establish some realistic expectations”, no, go away.  What you’re doing is the exact opposite of helpful.  Let’s abolish realistic expectations and give EVERYONE unrealistic expectations.  Let’s get bored of 1000lb deadlifts, let’s see so many 3000lb totals that it’s trite, let’s get so inundated with greatness that we expect nothing else.  When we normalize greatness, achieving it seems almost inevitable.  What you’re doing is dragging us all down with you as you do your best to turn the topic of conversation around and back to you.

Hey, know what you can do to get people to start talking about you?  GO DO SOMETHING!  Go do something that is WORTH talking about.  Don’t pride yourself on how weak you are; go into hiding and turn into some sort of horrific unstoppable juggernaut and come back decades later so that the whole collective internet hivemind sees you and says “What the F**K?!”  Go EARN the right to be spoken about.  Don’t try to steal it by attempting to turn the spotlight onto your weakness whenever given the chance; remain silent until you have something to say, and then say it so loud that no one can hear over your awesomeness.

Eddie couldn't hear over how awesome he was...and because he was bleeding out of his ears

And why CAN’T it be you?  Why spend so much time wallowing in maudlin self-pity when you could go out and BE these things you idolize?  No time?  Genetics?  Drugs?  Excuses, the whole lot of it.  Because even if you can’t reach THEIR level, you can certainly maximize your potential, and in doing so you will reach levels that few other humans in total will ever experience.  You WILL be spoken of by others, because the person that has peaked, in whatever form that takes, IS impressive among others.  You won’t have to hog the spotlight or shift attention away from others or play weird psychological games to trick people into noticing you; you’ll be noticed because you finally went and achieved something.

But until that time, it’s not about you.  Don’t make it about you.  Let the greatness that is occurring occur before you, and praise it for what it is, and reflect on it for what it means to you, and give that person what they EARNED by achieving this feat.  One day, you might be able to earn it too.