This is my older brother Dave. Today we went to the gym.
A workout with Dave is on a whole other level than one on my own. His physique alone lets you know you’re in for something grueling. Just knowing that he’ll be there amps up my adrenaline and self-expectation. It’s hardcore. Dave is a great motivator – he not only encourages me to physically push myself but psychologically can help me find the will within myself to be stronger.
Dave and I haven’t worked out together in quite a while. I usually go it alone. But even then Dave and my father are both with me. I can hear them in my head encouraging me to keep going. “It’s not the quantity, it’s the quality Joel”. Yet despite my best effort to “catch up” it still seems that my older brother will always be bigger than me. I sometimes find the gall to feel like I’m becoming his equal until I find myself left in the dust while he hefts two and three times my maximum. And so I am again left with a quiet and smoldering desire to continue to close an enormous gap.
And that’s when the revelation hit me. When that day finally comes when I can lift more than Dave, it simply won’t matter. I’ll never really be bigger than my big brother because you can never look down on someone you look up to.
