American Gladiators…And Me.

Recently my family and I have returned to an old favourite show: American Gladiator. My dad and I watched the original when I was younger, and were thrilled to see it return. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how much I would like it now, but a few episodes, a preacher and a soccer mom later I was hooked. Now it is our Monday night show.

It’s 2008, ain’t it great, and as always with a new year I have made my New Year’s resolutions. They are the usual culprits: eat healthier, drink more water, and exercise more. I have been a runner for 5 years now, so the cardio bit isn’t so hard to get back into, but the weights I could do without. But I’m determined. And so I scheduled my week days running days, and weight days, and rest day. Monday ended up being one of my weight days.

I searched for a job before Christmas and was lucky enough to score one before the holidays at everyone’s favourite electronic store, Best Buy. My Part-time hours consist of Mondays and Fridays. I work all day Monday.


All of these circumstances collided three weeks ago. And I ended up doing my weights on Monday nights after work during American Gladiators.

Lucky for me, our universal weight machine is within visual distance of the big TV. Yet, yesterday I started thinking about my weight training during this show of strength and endurance, and I came to a few conclusions.

1. It was rather ironic. How often do you plan your pumping iron with those who are already pumped beyond anything you could ever achieve?

2. It could also be discouraging, because I know that no matter how hard I try I will never have Siren’s abs.

3. It could be motivating to watch those people taking on giants and their own weaknesses. It just makes you want to start doing sit-ups.

Needless to say, American Gladiator doesn’t generally motivate me, but it does remind me to get over to the weight machine instead of slumping on the couch. One thing the show does remind me of though, is the underdog.

That’s one of the things that I know most people can agree with. We love to see the underdog succeed. Whether it is Soccer mom schooling Helga; the giants defeating the patriots; the joes blowing away the pros; the geek getting the girl from the jock; Cinderella putting it to her stepsisters; or David killing Goliath.

We love the underdog.

The more I think about the underdog I realize that he has most of the world on his side. We encourage him to press on despite the difficulties. We make signs for him. We talk trash talk for him.

And as I worked with the free weights I realized that I am not much different than those I cheer for, except that I don’t motivate myself so well as I would motivate them. I don’t cheer myself on as much as I cheer for them.

Does that make sense? As much as we are to encourage one another to press on and push through, what do we do for ourselves?

Would God not want us to encourage and love ourselves as much as those around us? I think he would. So I’ve made a new resolution. I’ve decided that I want to motivate me to be the best I can be in whatever arena I find myself in. And by being confident and passionate in what I do I hope I can spur on those and encourage those around me.

If I’m to truly love my neighbor I need to love God and receive the love that he gives me...