There is a quote I heard several years ago that has really stuck with me. Gymnastics coach Christopher Sommer said, “If you want to be a stud later, you have to be a pud now.” This is excellent advice for anybody wanting to develop their levels of physical fitness. A stud is obviously the top of the echelon. To become the stud means you have attained mastery. You are the best. And the pud, well the pud is the opposite, far from mastery. The pud is the novice way down at the bottom of the chain. In the real world there are only a few studs, many pretending to be studs, and then a large majority of puds.
In the world of physical fitness, the only thing preventing us from embracing our “pudness” before we become studs is vanity. A pud may sound like a bad thing, but is it really if you are on the path to studhood? Being on the path means you are learning, developing, and gaining mastery of your own body. We all have to start somewhere, and we can’t compare ourselves to others. All we can do is compare ourselves to who we were the day before. The goal is to make progress, to become better today.
Consider for a moment, the mental and spiritual studs of the world. They too had to start somewhere. They too were at one time a mental and spiritual pud. They had to progress daily to get where they are today. They too had to travel the path. The road to studhood for them was not necessarily a smooth paved road. It was wrought with difficulties and challenges. They had to overcome their own set of obstacles to get where they are today. One foot in front of the other, they continued along their journey to mastery.
The potential for greatness lies before all of us. The only way to get there is to travel the path. It is a difficult journey but well worth it. Body, soul, and spirit. Imagine what could be accomplished if we work to develop these every day.
TonyFine.blog 