Going Through Changes...

The song "Changes" just came on my iTunes shuffle...it got me thinking....so i searched the word "change" in the program. 8 songs, and one album title. It seems pretty clear that change is an inevitable part of life. Almost everything changes. Jobs change. Schedules change. Families change. The government changes. Our bodies change. The gym changes. Kids go to college, people get sick, companies downsize, they elect a new pope, global warming, California Condors, deforestation, the annexation of Puerto Rico, instant replay in the Red Zone inside 2:00 mark, Schwarzenegger doesn't seek reelection, and Usain Bolt shatters world records. It's just a part of life. We can try all we want to stop it, but eventually it happens. That can be scary. Terrifying even.
But some things just don't change. Some things just remain as they are and have always been, and we can all find some comfort and strength in that. One thing that remains constant is a weight. An Olympic barbell weighs 45 lbs. It has for as long as I've been consciously aware. A plate weighs 45 lbs. 45 lbs, or 90 lbs, or 135 lbs, no matter what the weight, it doesn't change. No matter what happened with your work shift or your dog or your tax return, your PRs remain the same until YOU change them. Gravity is always there. It doesn't take a vacation. Either you lift more this time, or you don't. A new PR is the kind of change we can all agree on. That's a win. When there's nothing between you and the bar, you know just where you stand in that moment of time. There's a strange kind of comfort that comes with the knowledge that you're the only one who can change that number, the number of pounds you can lift. When life throws you for a curveball or 7, the weights will always be a place to escape. They'll always be honest. Plates don't change, you just decide how many to move.

-Steve Decker