My Chimera

[Gambit]

I risk everything on a daily basis to come out on top and I wouldn't have it any other way. That's why I call myself Gambit. I'm a college student with a lot of classes, a steady girlfriend (who doesn't totally understand the Animal in me, though she's starting to), a serious job, and I'm a heavily-active member in my Fraternity. Can I do all of this and still live the bodybuilding lifestyle? Fuck yes. And it's what seperates me from everyone else on this campus.

Frat Boys are alcoholics. And that's fine by me, because I'm not a Frat Boy. I am a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, but I am no Frat Boy. Sure, I'm the only clean liver in the Fraternity house. Sure, I'm the only one downing 6 meals a day and working out 5 days a week. Looking back, I might not have joined if I had realized that the values that the Fraternity were built upon have taken a backseat to constant alcohol abuse. I got no problem with college kids drinking if that's what they want to do, but it shouldn't be what we as a Fraternity are known for. Grr, sorry guys. But we're better than that.

Everyone gives me a look like they know me when they see me wear my Fraternity letters...like they know I'm an alcoholic and probably drunk, even if it's the middle of the afternoon. Little do they know that I walk a higher path.
I'm not about the alcohol, I'm about the iron. I'm about pounding myself into a mess of sinew and flesh every workout and then limping through the next day until my next workout. I'm about myself. Fuck those people that stereotype me as a Frat Boy, cause they couldn't be more wrong.


more thoughts later, bros, this has just been weighing down on me.

[Madcat]

Well bro let me just start out by saying I was in the same shoes less than a yr ago. I was a 3 yr member of my fraternity, as well as President for 2 yrs along with President of Greek Council, and Vice President of the student body. I went to a small school for about 1800 and everyone knew everyone. I had a steady GF for 2 yrs, and lived in my frat. house for all 3 yrs of my term.
Yes we were totally stereotyped as drunks and alcoholics, BUT the frat. life is what you make it. I took over 3 months off from drinking my sophmore year after moving into the frat. and gainging 15lbs from drinking a case of beer and liquor everyday just because I could. I dropped back to my normal weight and started hittin the weights hardcore. Thats when I found this place.
After that, I began lifting 5 days a week and cardio atleast 4. I ate tuna, chicken, and beef for 4 meals of the day and had atleast 1 protein shake. The funny thing was when people would look at my plate of food and be like no mashed potatos and gravy? No mac n cheese? And Id just look back and say nah, that stuff just doesnt do it anymore.....
Then my Sr. yr. came around and I got injured and had to move out my last semester of college. I gained 20 lbs due to not being able to walk and on bed rest, but now Im back at it and dropped the 20 and put it back on in muscle.
I wanna give you props for truly staying true to the Animal lifestyle and tell you that you can do it. Im pulling for you and you have my total support.
Remember the Fraternity will give you alot but this lifestyle will give you more.

[Gambit]

I wanna give you props for truly staying true to the Animal lifestyle and tell you that you can do it. Im pulling for you and you have my total support.
Remember the Fraternity will give you alot but this lifestyle will give you more.

That means a lot, bro. I really appreciate knowing that somebody out there knows what I'm talking about. There's a lot of shit going on between the fraternities on campus, and it's weighing down on us younger guys. The thing is, and I brought this up today, and it's the same in the weight room: "We control the future. It's in our hands, so why are we going through the same motions as the ones that didn't get anything done?"

I'd rather be naive and say that everything can work and we can all work together than say, fuck it, I quit.

[Gambit]

To me, tattoos are one of the most symbolic and meaningful things to a person, or at least they should be. Sometimes you'll see this dude with tattoos all over his body that he doesn't care about or have a meaning for. That bothers me. A lot.

I got two tattoos: A star on my right shoulder and a shamrock with the word "Overcome" near it on my wrist. They are extremely symbolic and sacred to me. The star's five points stand for love, honor, family, self-confidence, and dedication. Some heavy shit, but it's what I gotta remember. It keeps me grounded in this crazy world. The shamrock reminds me of the past and where I come from. Overcome? Shit, I got that before I ever saw Machine's tattoo and I started laughing out loud when I saw his. My explanation? Just what Wrath said in the Journey, "Though the pain may come over you, never let it overcome you."

Brothers, there's one reason why every one of us is here today...we've overcome...

[D-Rock]

Tattoos on other people shouldn't bother you, cuz you don't know what those seemingly meaningless tats might mean to that dude. Just like that star just might be something a highly tatted up dude looks and thinks is just some corny tat. Let your tats mean to you what they mean, and vice-versa. Keep lifting and not letting those other stereo-types bother you brother, just don't stereo-type others along the way.

[DUB]

I couldnt agree with you more bro. im currently pledging Delta Sigma Phi, and let me tell you something. The whole hosue is known for its weightlifitng. Half the brothers control the weight room from 4 till 8pm, guiding and helping others looking to follow the same lifestyle. While some brothers tend to drink excessively, I jsut have a few beers on our main party night, saturday, as my cheat meal. Thats right, i dont eat what ive been craving, instead i get some stress releif by just workign the bar and having a good time. People wonder why im not doing keg stands or playing ruit, well its cause i know i have to get my ass out of bed the next day and get to the gym.

[Gambit]

Tattoos on other people shouldn't bother you, cuz you don't know what those seemingly meaningless tats might mean to that dude. Just like that star just might be something a highly tatted up dude looks and thinks is just some corny tat. Let your tats mean to you what they mean, and vice-versa. Keep lifting and not letting those other stereo-types bother you brother, just don't stereo-type others along the way.

Nah, bro, I didn't mean for it to come across like I hate people with lots of tats. I just don't like tats that don't mean anything to the person. Like this buddy of mine, great guy, tons of tats. Some of them mean a lot of important shit to him, but some of them he got because "They just look cool, dude." That's the shit that bothers me.

[Gambit]

People don't get the Animal Gear. People think that they know everything. I love it. I love knowing that they know some, but not as much as they think. That's life.

Somebody walked up to me and wondered why I had this huge baggy hoodie on today as I warmed up in the squat rack, during the middle of my set, mind you! So I racked my weight and told him, "I bought it this way." He looked at me kinda funny. "Cause I plan on growing into this motherfucker..." And I just stared at him. He got scared and walked away.

I started squatting again. And it felt even nicer than ever.

[Gambit]

Chimera means “an imaginary monster made up of grotesquely disparate parts. In mythology, this was represented as a fire-breathing she-monster, with the lion’s head, goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.”

What does this have to do with me? I am one and I am many. I am Animal. I’m an amalgamation of what I’ve been through and who I was born. I know what I want to become. I know what it’s going to take to get there. But the fucked up thing is, I don’t know what it’s going to take there. I’ve got a lifetime full of twists and turns ahead of me, and that’s going to be a bitch to deal with. But that’s okay. People say, “It’s the journey, it’s the destination.” I truly believe that. And I’m ready to give everything up if it puts me one step closer to the truth.

If I die tomorrow, would I be able to look back and say that while I was here, I did everything I could? Right now, I’m willing to say yes. But the bitch of it is, I’m 19. There’s hopefully a lot more ahead of me. And it’s going to require a lot of sacrifice and choices that are going to be difficult. But everyday, I’m going to have to believe in the man I see in the mirror.

I am my own chimera. And these are my thoughts.

[Torque757]

I know what it’s going to take to get there. But the fucked up thing is, I don’t know what it’s going to take there. .

??

[Gambit]

??

I know it's gonna take a lot of work, but I don't know exactly what kind of work I have to do. There's gonna be a lot of twists and turns, meaning I don't know exactly what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone three days from now. A year? Ha.

[Strongarm]

great post bro, i like the way you think.

[Gambit]

“I could take you,” I heard as I walked to grab my hooded sweatshirt off the hook near the door.

“Little shit, why you even in here? Not like you play a varsity sport.” An overweight football player told me.

“It ain’t worth it, kid; you’re wasting your time.” An older twig of a man told me.

“Baby, I don’t want you to look like that.” My girlfriend said, looking at my poster of Wrath in my room.

There are a lot of people in my life that have tried to bring me down. But I’ve proven to be a little more stubborn than to listen to negative feedback. I choose to believe in myself, that I can accomplish more than the person next to me, because I strive to want it. I want it more than 99% of the people in the world. Brothers, you are the 1% that is with me. Stand with me; let us become one another’s foundation to build and build…

[Lawman]

Great post dude. Nevermind what the wanna-be's say. We can fart in their general direction.

Ours is a noble quest. We're not hurting anyone (but maybe ourselves). We're not calling anyone down. There is nothing in what we do that isn't positive. There is no negative connotation to our quest. So to all those people who want to call us down, and try to throw up roadblocks before us; I say fuck em. We don't need em anyway.

[Toni69]

I like your stlye...its expressive in a manner that others can relate to and communicate with...I like what you have written so far. What else you got in that hat of yours?

[Gambit]

I like your stlye...its expressive in a manner that others can relate to and communicate with...I like what you have written so far. What else you got in that hat of yours?

Only time will tell!

[Gambit]

The recent tragedy in Atlanta, Georgia really hit home to me. In case any of you didn’t hear about it, a college baseball team’s bus plunged off an overpass this morning and six people were killed. Now, my baseball career ended after a serious knee injury, but it still means a lot to me. I owe a lot to baseball.

Baseball is where my bodybuilding roots were sown. I began lifting for baseball almost a year and a half ago, and it soon became my obsession. Being the team captain, I strongly encouraged everyone to join me in the weight room during the off-season and I did my research at night, looking up exercises, drills, and things to improve my team’s performance. This is when the obsession began. After a few weeks of my players charting their own progress, I began drawing up individualized workout plans for every person on the team. The boys really began working hard and their progress improved dramatically. I also made a challenge, on the first day of conditioning before the season, that any person with the balls to hang with me in the gym would be rewarded…no one even took the challenge. They had seen the Animal in me while I lifted and it scared them. All of a sudden, when the season began, I was the only one in the weight room. They would be “too tired” after a game to work out; it was “too early” to get up before school to lift. I couldn’t penalize them, being just the captain, but what I could do was push myself and hope to inspire them that way. That didn’t work. But it elevated my personal game to a whole new level. I wasn’t afraid to give it my all anymore because I knew that I’d been under the heavy weights and I hadn’t folded. It broke something inside of me, I was 100% go, every time.

Going 100% every time took a heavy toll on my body. But it was worth it. I never told any of my players what kept me looking like I was slacking sometimes. None of them knew I was on a routine to wake up at 2am just to take more painkillers. None of them knew that I couldn’t physically walk the night after games because my feet had swollen so badly. None of them knew that I was playing baseball with two separated shoulders. None of them knew that both my rotator cuffs were shot. None of them knew about the strained oblique muscle that made it look like I had constant constipation. None of them knew about the nerve damage in both of my shoulders, my elbows, and my hands. But you know what? I’m proud I never told them. I worked through my pain and I still worked harder than all of them. I could look at myself in the mirror and be proud. Today, I do the same thing. Every workout, every rep, I know who I am and that I can go through some hellacious shit and go back and ask for more.

I don’t need a spotter, Brothers, because I know every one of you is in the weight room with me, yelling at me to get up that one more rep.

And to my fallen Brothers from Bluffton, University, rest in peace, and may you look down on me one day and I’ll have made you proud.

[Preston]

Dawg, I'm lovin your posts. One word.

DeeeeeEEEEEEEEP!

[Gambit]

I first read the word chimera in Frankenstein. In that novel, the word was used to describe the catalyst that gave life to Frankenstein’s Monster. I was thinking about it a few days back and I decided to explain my chimera. What makes me tick? A fucking lot brothers…

A fierce lion’s heart
The sweat of a hard-working elephant
The hard-head of a rhino
The hunger of a bear
The energy of a hummingbird
The loyalty of a wolf to his pack

You throw all those ingredients into a pot and crank up the heat to 212 degrees. Let it burn. Out of this concoction, you’ll get an Animal. That Animal is you and it is I. Let us be true to our ingredients, because you must believe that we are on our way to something greater.

[BeastFromMiddleEast]

Great thoughts.
Life is what we make of it, and it seems you are doing what you want.