Day 270 of Action Speaks Louder than Words
Hard to believe that we are here, but I am, less than 100 days to go for a full year.
Today, I went up to 120lbs on the squat for 5 sets of 5 reps.
Normally I would do pushups on monday, wed and friday, but today, my chest is so sore that I could not even do one, so I will just rest it up.
This means that on Wednesday, I will shoot for 125lbs, we will see how that goes.
It is getting close to the elusive 135lbs, which is the olympic bar of 45lbs, loaded with a 45lb plate on each side, a weight that I have seen some people doing in the gym and thought was absolutely impossible for me to ever even imagine.
I am imagining it.
I am only 15lbs away!
So now, what does Leviathan have to do with anything?
How Art Inspires Life
Over the weekend I saw an independent film called Leviathan down in the west village.
This film which is a documentary about commercial fishing life without words, is a product of the Harvard University Sensory Ethnography Lab.
The camera shoots both above and below the ocean, low down on deck, from just about every point of view that you could imagine.
The film had about 30 people in the theater, they have very small theaters down at the IFC.
About half of the audience left during the film.
I did not blame them. I wanted to leave as well.
The shots were very confusing, sometimes you know where you are on the boat, and sometimes you do not.
You see alot of dead fish, from just about every angle, it is quite gory and frankly somewhat nauseating.
It is the perfect film for PETA to show to help encourage more veganism.
The sounds of the film were also very grating.
Overall, it was quite a terrible experience.
So, why am I speaking about it here?
Learn from Everything How Taking Action Rocks
I think it is a good lesson in vision and implementation.
I personally did not care for the film, the shots, the sounds, but there probably are some who do like it , who will like it.
The fact is that the producers of this film had a vision of what they wanted to create, and they went for it.
They created their vision, they acted on it and as a result, we have their film Leviathn for better or for worse.
So, the lesson to us is for each one of us to not give up on our vision and that action speaks louder than words.
Of course it helps to have a vision, whatever it might be, and most importantly, to act on it until we create what we have imagined.
If Not Now When?
The way I think it translates to losing weight, getting fit, becoming lean, is that just about anyone you will speak with will always say “I have to lose some weight”, “the doctor said I should get rid of that spare tire” or “summer is coming, I want to be able to go to the beach with a new lean body”.
So, that vision is there, but the action does not always accompany the vision.
That is what I took away from this film.
It inspired me to be even more dedicated to my vision for myself and being able to share my experiences so they might be helpful for you too.
Anyone who has struggled with weight and depression, has experienced similar demons of low self esteem, anxiety, looking for a tastier escape from the stresses of life.
It just occured to me that weight and depression are both very similar, weight is excess calories which are stored in fat cells and when we have too much, endangers our very body.
Depression is a form of excess, over thinking and over emotional weight, an excess weight of emotion that can break your mind down as much as excess weight breaks down the body.
In any case, the same action that speaks louder than words to deal with physical over weight can also have a positive impact on the emotional overweight of depression.
Leviathan Movie – A Wonderful Example of How Action Speaks Louder than Words
So from that point of view, I thank the creators of the Leviathan film, as well as all artists, any people who are taking action to make their dreams come true.
Thoughts and Words alone are never enough.
We cannot just think or read a recipe out loud and expect the dish to materialize.
Even with a spelled out recipe, we have to get the ingredients and put them together, shake , bake, mix, blend, whatever it calls for.
So start doing your squats, deadlifts, presses, rows and pushups.
Start eating real food.
That is it!
Rich is a certified personal trainer-AAPT and the author of