Training Is A Privilege

There are many families in the same situation in the Philippines and it’s not uncommon to see many struggling to make ends meet. I forgot we gave a toy fish to one of the kids, fortunately it was purchased from a street vendor, who you would assume is also grinding away to try and put food on the table.

I’ve been wanting to share this photo for quite some time

It’s of a family my mother and I met when we last visited the Philippines

Whenever we visit Manila, my mum tries to give away money to anyone she sees in need

In the Philippines, there are many which live below the poverty line

So there are many in the population who are in real need

The thing is…

Mum is a pensioner so there is only so much she can giveaway

Nonetheless, it’s in her nature to give to anyone less fortunate

It appeared the family we met on Roxas Boulevard (a well known area of Manila)  were struggling to make ends meet

After having a bit of chat, we gave them what we could

I asked also whether I could take their photo

They were happy to oblige

Now to the point of this blog

You can definitely call me out as being ignorant, but it is my assumption most of us are quite lucky to be born in Australia

Not all maybe, but most

Most of us have running water and a roof over our heads

Wages seem to be a reasonable

Our standard of living is pretty darn good

However, we still seem to find space or time to complain and focus on all we don’t have in our lives

Or we find struggle in areas which we should probably really choose to embrace

Now this is not to suggest we don’t have our share of problems

The fact is we all have problems and will continue to until the day we leave this Earth

Yet I think many of us would benefit from “checking in”

It’s worth questioning how our attitude is truly serving us

Taking some time out acknowledging just how lucky we have it

Turning our focus on what seems hard, uncomfortable, inconvenient or unjust

Into a realisation of the possibility we’re quite lucky and what seems like a shitty situation or problem

Is really a gift waiting to be discovered by our solutions

The harsh truth is this

We’re actually fortunate to be training in gyms, with a PT or in any group situation

It is a privilege of a problem manifested by society

There have been massive efforts put in place to tidy up Manila Bay. However, as you can see, there’s still a lot of rubbish and unfortunately many still choose to swim in the littered waters.

So let’s understand this a bit more

I don’t believe it’s fair to compare all the time

However, our problems with finding motivation to train on a cold rainy night

Are by far better than wondering if there is enough food to feed your family

It is up to YOU how you wish to approach the “road bumps” which present themselves

There is no doubt many of us are tired, stressed and feel time poor

We have niggles, feel stiffness, find difficulty, even loathe certain moments in our health pursuits

However, it’s your choice at the end of the day how you wish to mentally address these problems

We get stronger by fronting up to our challenges

Seeking situations of comfort, still bring up situations of discomfort

Pick your mindset and be prepared to absolutely smash through your problems with courage and gratitude beside you

Training is privilege, be grateful for it

P.T. Scott