by Neil Anderson
One of the best things about GPP is, to workout here means leaving your ego at the door. We do ROUGH stuff. It is not for the chicken-hearted. Neither is it for the weak willed. Every inch we gain, every inch we lose and every inch forward we move toward our goal is tedious and deliberate. And we'll take that inch. After all, an inch is mountains more progress than others make.
That's how we roll.
If we can take more than that inch we will, but its a sketchy proposition. We've learned there is a price to pay for getting greedy. Greediness at GPP can be messy. It can stink. It can hurt and we've seen it's putrid awfulness put off the most hearty of souls.
And since it is so omnipresent around here. And since it looms over us with such disdain and utter contempt, we have decided to formally acknowledge our worthy adversary with a name. Let him forever be known as...
THE YAK!
Although we all hate the Yak, it is useless to fear him, because meeting him is inevitable. By working out here, by pushing to discover our limits, by striving to go to the edge and see what we are made of - the two of us are likely to meet. Not face to face over tea and crumpets. More like, his horns - our arse.
When that happens, man you gotta just take it. Prison style. Because after you get cocky and wave that big green cape of greed in front of his face, there is NOTHING you can do about what comes next. When it does, here is some advice: smile. Just grin through it. Ever see that cartoon of a mouse about to be eaten by an eagle? Grinning helps, trust me.
Many, many have asked why it is that we don't have those primping and posing mirror monkey types down here at GPP. We think there are a lot of reasons. 1) They can't take their shirts off. 2) Thirty something y/o mommas of 4 keep beating them at workouts. 3) They are afraid of the YAK.
We also think they must hate how they look in green. (double meaning alert)
It's too bad, because they are missing out.
Not that I am advocating taking a horn to the backside. If this can be avoided, it must. But we both know it cannot. Not if we are to see where our limits lie. Not if we are to learn, deep down, who we really are.
To avoid the Yak is to miss out on several important elements of self mastery. A few of these are: Freedom, Acceptance & Community.
Freedom from the fears that have been holding us back. Acceptance of the consequences of those fears. Missing out on a beautiful community of like minded individuals charging forward together, equally committed to virtuous goals and values.
This is the magic of GPP. On any given day, EVERY one of us are merely ONE workout away from a Yak attack. While the uninitiated rookie might worry about what others think of him or her if they get sick or have to quit a workout early to burst into the parking lot and construct a puke pile, he or she would feel much more relieved to know, as all vets know, that instead of judging them weak or insufficient - we are only feeling lucky.
Lucky because we know next time it might be one of us. And we welcome them (and their outstanding effort of intensity) to our committed little community!