A number of ya'll may recall some previous commissions in which I described the personal pain I've underwent to get to the place that I am today. Most notably in the following two:
Inescapable
Hide It, Conceal It

However, today's story takes a different tone. This is the story how when the fat little kid looked at all the athletes berating him in the eye, and told the "I can do this all day."

First a visual reference, aside from the wonderful commission piece inspired by the tale. Here is the before and after picture I like best (me at my highest weight, and the me completing my first Half Ironman): Transformation Picture

Ten years ago I looked like that, large and amorphous, and many in the family were concerned that at the way I was gaining weight, I would go from being morbidly obese, as I was in the photo, to super obese, to likely dead from some kind of heart condition (which thankfully I never contracted even at that weight). However, to the surprise of many, I decided at that weight that I wanted to join the military. Though some in the family voiced concerns at the low likelihood of success, they were largely supportive of this choice.

When I got to the military school I attended, however, things changed drastically. From day one I was harassed, teased, and treated with open contempt, as one who was not worthy of getting into such a historic organization, or polluting it with my amorphous form. Numerous attempts were made to break my spirit in the harassment, and to break the body in the physical training. And it only got worse after my first physical fitness test. After scoring an abysmal 4 push ups in 2 minutes, 4 sit ups in two minutes, and 25+ minutes on the two mile run (on a test in which the minimum scores for that age are 42 push ups, 54 sit ups, and 15:54 2 mile run), one of the instructors approached me, and stated directly: "Listen man, you probably ought to consider something else, you know, and save some money. I don't think you're going to cut it out here." Those words stung more than any other, as they were said in private and with sincerity, not as an attempt to break my spirit.

Yet what they did not understand was all of this, the contempt, the harassment, the lack of faith, even the outright hatred were all things that I fed upon. And while it may sound petty perhaps, all the trials that I suffered filled me with an indomitable will to succeed. So for 3 years I endured. For the three years, the attempts at physical training to try and break my body only resulted in giving me the strength I needed to pass the physical tests. The attempts to break my will resulted a steely resolve and serene demeanor, an ability to work unfazed under intense pressure that I'd likely not have developed otherwise. And the rest of it, hate, prejudice, contempt, all the negative emotions thrown my way, for three years, we fuel, fuel that ultimately allowed me to reach the goal: become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army.

The picture, of me completing my first Half-Ironman was taken 6 years after I started this process, and hopefully, within the next year, I can post the picture of me finishing my first full Ironman.

Ten years later, however, the challenges have not ceased. Though I've surpassed the greatest hurdle, I've found that any moment of complacency, any time that I stop monitoring what I eat or get careless about my fitness, I lose ground and start regressing back. But I much prefer this vigilance of what has been earned than I do the life that I left behind, in which I was winded getting out of chair, and glances of pity surrounded my breathless state. And like the artist perfecting their ability to capture the shapes, textures, and lighting that makes perfection in the composition of art, so too do I seek perfection in the art of mastering the body so that I can not only excel in my profession, but continue in this path of personal achievement I've set on.

To the reader, if you've made it this far, allow me to provide a word of encouragement and challenge. Bear in mind that failure, pain, contempt, and the prejudice of others are not the end of a path or a place where one should stop and surrender to them. Instead, they are a flame through which the human spirit is forged, and through which one can become something wonderful, or something utterly terrible and destructive. When such challenges face you, I challenge you, push through, look that challenge in the eye, and tell them, "I can do this all day", for even though it is a horrendous ordeal as you go through it, you will emerge better for it on the other side.

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END STORY

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The magnificent artwork is by  Mithril07 who was absolutely wonderful to work with, and I do look forward to working with her again!

V/R,
Cap Mag.