This weekend my wife and I took a short weekend trip to Lancaster, PA, Amish country (http://www.padutchcountry.com). As you drive around occasionally you might see a Amish horse and buggy heading down the road or one of the Amish folk dressed in black walking allong the shoulder of the road. They pretty much believe in not useing modern technology while passer-bys cruse on in their luxery cars talking on cell phones. I got to say that choosing to live a smiple lifestyle as theirs has some appeal. Not to worry about money and live mostly self reliant with no debts has its appeal. But they do this by working hard. To not have to pay for an expensive car, home and insurance that suck away our hard earned money from our jobs has an appeal. But these folk are just darn tough on themself. On one day it was miserable cold, windy and raining all day, my wife and I were trying to find activities to enjoy indoors where it was comfortable. So we did some shopping at some of the local outlet malls. As we drove to different places I think I saw more Amish out and about treking through the rain than ever. I saw one Amish family pushing on down a long stretch of road in the worst conditions even with a baby stroller containing the youngest. But they were a family that was together and happy. Thats tough...
Then today I watched Last One Standing on the Discovery Channel. Six Guys with their roots in western civilization in a though man match against each other while performing in local fighting/warrior competitions in third world countries around the world. Each one of these guys have different strengths and abilities but it seems that none of them is so well rounded that they stand out well in some of the competitions they have taken part in. In a couple of competitions some never made it past the first round or their level of competition could not even compare to the local atheletes of places they visit. Of course the locals have been training all their life for that specific competition. But these guys are supposed to be the ultimate atheletes of our culture up against the ultimate atheletes of other cultures. The training and living experiences they go though you have to be tough to endure. At times these guys are getting so tore up in the training you wonder if they will even make it to the acutal competition. In some cases they don't. We have already seen broken ribs, blistered and bleeding feet and an injured back. What these guys are doing is very unique and interesting but I would say that watching this tough of the tough loose in matches across the world make the rest of us look like whimps as well.
These 6 should try this: dress in Amish clothing and walk 5 miles in freezing rain WHITHOUT COMPLAINING. Tough is that little Amish boy walking with his parents in the rain holding his mothers hand and looking into his fathers face with love because they were together as a family no matter the circumstances. If you don't understand the previous statement then you just don't know how hard it is to feel good about anyone or anything around you while you are going through one of the worst experiences of your life.
Then today I watched Last One Standing on the Discovery Channel. Six Guys with their roots in western civilization in a though man match against each other while performing in local fighting/warrior competitions in third world countries around the world. Each one of these guys have different strengths and abilities but it seems that none of them is so well rounded that they stand out well in some of the competitions they have taken part in. In a couple of competitions some never made it past the first round or their level of competition could not even compare to the local atheletes of places they visit. Of course the locals have been training all their life for that specific competition. But these guys are supposed to be the ultimate atheletes of our culture up against the ultimate atheletes of other cultures. The training and living experiences they go though you have to be tough to endure. At times these guys are getting so tore up in the training you wonder if they will even make it to the acutal competition. In some cases they don't. We have already seen broken ribs, blistered and bleeding feet and an injured back. What these guys are doing is very unique and interesting but I would say that watching this tough of the tough loose in matches across the world make the rest of us look like whimps as well.
These 6 should try this: dress in Amish clothing and walk 5 miles in freezing rain WHITHOUT COMPLAINING. Tough is that little Amish boy walking with his parents in the rain holding his mothers hand and looking into his fathers face with love because they were together as a family no matter the circumstances. If you don't understand the previous statement then you just don't know how hard it is to feel good about anyone or anything around you while you are going through one of the worst experiences of your life.