A personal story and maybe little inspiration for the many new years to come.
On November 9, 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom". Originally I had planned for this article to be published on that date; unfortunately my blog was not functional so I was unable to do so. As an alternative I opted to publish this article as the first post for the New Year, 2010; it was just too important to let slip by.
This article is not a list of steps to guaranteed success or empty promises of prosperity. Nor does this article have anything to do with any sort of design. The only images I will use here is the single image used above as part of the website’s design.
I am simply writing this article for the personal reason of saying something that I believe needs to be said more often. From time to time, other articles like this will pop up on here, it is a Journal after all.
You may find the writings inspiring or perhaps you’ll find them not to your liking. Either way, here they are.
The Fall of The Wall
On November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced that all German Democratic Republic (GDR) citizens were permitted to visit West Germany. Crowds of East Germans climbed over and crossed the wall, which for almost a quarter century had split the country in two. On the opposite side the East Germans were joined by West Germans, with a national celebration to follow.
Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by excited citizens, some even taking parts of the wall with them as a souvenir. Industrial equipment was later used to remove the remaining pieces of the wall. Many of the pieces are still standing today, but as monuments to commemorate the day the wall came crumbling down.
On October 3, 1990, due to the actions of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German reunification was officially finalized and the oppression caused by the wall for over two decades came to an end.
Those who observed the end of the Berlin Wall agree it was one of the most remarkable sights they have ever witnessed; a monumental moment in history that occurs only once in a lifetime.
I personally only remember fragments of the televised portions I watched on television, only five years old at the time. In a era before YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and the internet itself, the images of those bold, brave individuals taking apart the wall, brick by brick, where spread all over the globe in mere minutes. A truly remarkable moment and one I am happy to have witnessed in my lifetime.
Grab It
Some days I just wanna up and call it quits. I feel like I’m surrounded by a wall of bricks.
The above lyric is from the song, Run Rabbit Run, written by Eminem for the 8 Mile Movie Soundtrack; the song details Eminem’s character, nicknamed Rabbit, and his state of mind during the film. As controversial as Eminem can be, I give credit where it’s due, Marshal Mathers has created some incredibly inspiring music. Should you be interested in listening to the song, Mr. Mathers is known for his explicit lyrics for good reason; consider yourself warned.
So what is the point of me bringing these lyrics into the conversation? Minus the fact the quote deals with the mental barriers the character is dealing with and Eminem’s controversy aside, the lyrics ring true for anyone’s life. Those times we feel we are being surrounded by walls; days where we find ourselves willing to wave the white flag and gorge in self-doubt.
In an age where we crave instantaneous results, it can be increasingly strenuous to dedicate ourselves to an idea that takes a lifetime to attain. I say a lifetime because for each challenge we overcome, another is already situated to take the place of the last one.
This is the reality we are faced with. Only one thing will collapse these walls around us. Inside all of us, there is a desire to be better at something, an ache in our hearts; it’s the human spirit, the pursuit of the good fight, our stride to move forward. In order to move forward, we have to take those, fresh, demanding steps into the unfamiliar, prepared to chip away any obstacles in our path. However we cannot walk blindly unless we wish to walk straight into a fresh, unfamiliar wall.
Any individual who desires to move forward requires vision, a grasp on something that is intangible yet very real. It’s a mental picture of where, who, or what they want to be; a lifeline in times of need, an idea to grab on to when things get rough.
A vision is all the mind needs to set in motion the steps to attain that higher path; and that’s it, that is the path to achievement. No tricks. No series of steps. No gimmicks. There is no one, best way. This is your life and you have to tear down your walls, your way. A vision and the work used to attain that vision; that’s all it takes.
Like I said before, this is not a list of steps to success or a clear path to something prosperous. Hurdles are meant to be jumped over. Obstacles are meant to be overcome. Walls are meant to keep us enclosed but only for however long we want them to enclose us.
Our choice is simple. Either believe in ourselves, take our chances and push back the walls that surround us or to give in to our fears and give up on our hopes, our dreams and, our lives.
If I gotta scream ’til I have half a lung. If I have half a chance I’ll grab it, Rabbit, run.
Jumping Jack
For the conclusion of this article I would like to close with a more recent story, something that I experienced while weight training this week.
During the Christmas break my brother invited me to train with a few, future pro athletes as a new experience in my workout routine. As most of these future pros are friends of mine who I was unable to train with recently, I jumped at the chance. At the same time I was also very interested to see how I would compare to strength and stamina of these athletes. You can consider this a wall, an opportunity to better my body against those who have constantly striven to improve their own fitness. However, this story is not about the athletes I trained with for the past few weeks.
A few minutes after the end of a training session this week, my brother had gone on to start a new session with another client. I had seen this client a few times before but never watched the person exercise. As my brother and the client began, I was finishing up my post workout routine while listening to some music; totally unable to hear the conversation taking place between the two of them.
The client was your average sized, skinny beginner, similar to myself when I began training. Someone who appeared perfectly normal but who I could see had a long road ahead of them. How little I knew.
As I silently watched my brother instruct the client, I was baffled at how this individual was unable to do some of the simplest warm-up exercises. The one exercise I watched this individual attempt that stuck out in my mind was the ‘Jumping Jack’. This client just couldn’t do it smoothly. I didn’t understand how a young person was unable to do an exercise you first learn in grade school. The client also didn’t appear too happy about not being able to handle some of the exercises either, however, I had gotten used to seeing that in beginners.
With the music still on, I headed to the change room to get ready to head home. As I was leaving the change room, I had turned my music off and, wow, did I ever get an ear full.
As it turns out this client was lucky enough to even be walking let alone doing Jumping Jacks. This individual had recently survived a car crash, causing the person to lose some of their mobility. But it gets worse. The client had also been quite athletic prior to the crash, I learned later this was the reason they were dissatisfied with being unable to fully perform some of the warm-up exercises.
I may sound like a bit of jerk at this point but understand I only wish the best of all individuals who reach for that higher ground to better their lives. I also knew that the client was in good hands with my brother, he has transformed many lives. I’m telling this story not for others to feel sorry for this individual but to become inspired; it’s a triumph example of breaking down the walls in our lives. This individual had broken barriers in their life to attain a stronger body, only to have, not only those old walls rebuilt, but walls rebuilt that were broken decades ago, all in a matter of seconds.
I imagined if this was me, how frustrated and angry I would have become. How working to gain everything back would be mentally harder than anything I’ve ever attempted before. Yet here this person was, session after session, forging ahead and breaking down walls. If this person could visualize where they wanted to be, after everything they had been through, than we all can. The desire is inside us all, we just have to believe in it.
Tear Down The Wall
For many, tearing down the Berlin Wall became more than a mere display of masonry deconstruction, more than the removal of an blockage interfering with the lives of Eastern and Western Germans. The fall of the Berlin Wall has become a demonstration of the power of the human spirit; a symbol of those brave enough to rise against the obstructions that halt us all from achieving our true potential.
We all have our own walls to overcome in our lives, daily we are surrounded by barriers set only to push us back. For each wall that we tear down, there is an infinite amount of untouched obstacles, set to impede our progress. A life devoted to shattering the endless quantity of walls that constrict and restrain our being; such is the toil of all humans. Do we become fearful and content with crumbs of our current existence? Or do we rise up, courageously willing to face the unfamiliar, to forge ahead and produce our own legacy?