The 320 Pound Man
I was watching TV today. Something struck me as inspiring. There was a news story about a 320 pound man. This man was not 320 pounds because he was strapped with muscles. No this was a 320 pound fat man. Morbidly obese was more of a fitting description of this man's condition. But the story was not about how fat this man was. This story was not about his ill health, it was not about his laziness, and in fact it was not about the health risks of being this obese. This story was about how this 320 pound man was actually fit.
This 320 pound man has competed in over 100 triathlons. That's right, over 100 triathlons. You see he exercises regularly. He TRAINS for these triathlons. He swims, he bikes and he runs daily. They showed him running accross the finish line of a triathlon. There he was, 320 pounds and fat. But he was RUNNING! Imagine in your minds eye a 320 pound man getting in a wetsuit, swimming. He then transitions to the bike and rides hard. Then comes the run. What confidence this must take. Confidence to put yourself infront of people, exposing yourself to ridicule. Subjecting yourself to the cruel judgements of others.
Many people judge other people based upon their size. People will say how out of shape someone is based upon visual appearances. People are judged as being lazy. They are looked down upon in every sense. They are treated poorly by others. It is my opinion that obesity is the one last legal prejudices. Infact obesity is the one last socially acceptable prejudice. As wrong as it is, prejudice against fat people is perpatrated by a great majority of the people we come in contact with. I am speaking from experience. I used to weigh 310 pounds myself. Today I am weighing 190 pounds and still losing. I noticed a change in how people interacted with me as I lost weight. People were nicer to me. People were more willing to do things for me. Even in the halls of church people went out of their way to speak to me.
Now I cannot be certain if it was more self-confidence that made the difference for me or if people just are cruel enough to treat fat people badly. Personally I think it is a combination of the two. But here is a 320 pound fat man. But this man did not let his fears or his insecurities control who he was. He was fat, active, fit, and abounding with life. He proved all sterotypes wrong. He proved that prejudice of fat people is as wrong as racial prejudism or sexual descrimination. This man knows that you may not be able to change the world, but you can change how you view the world. This man knows that if you change the way you view the world then you can change the way you live in the world. What an inspiring lesson. This man is in charge of his own destiny.
© Copyright Ryan Robert Schopke, November 15, 2005
This 320 pound man has competed in over 100 triathlons. That's right, over 100 triathlons. You see he exercises regularly. He TRAINS for these triathlons. He swims, he bikes and he runs daily. They showed him running accross the finish line of a triathlon. There he was, 320 pounds and fat. But he was RUNNING! Imagine in your minds eye a 320 pound man getting in a wetsuit, swimming. He then transitions to the bike and rides hard. Then comes the run. What confidence this must take. Confidence to put yourself infront of people, exposing yourself to ridicule. Subjecting yourself to the cruel judgements of others.
Many people judge other people based upon their size. People will say how out of shape someone is based upon visual appearances. People are judged as being lazy. They are looked down upon in every sense. They are treated poorly by others. It is my opinion that obesity is the one last legal prejudices. Infact obesity is the one last socially acceptable prejudice. As wrong as it is, prejudice against fat people is perpatrated by a great majority of the people we come in contact with. I am speaking from experience. I used to weigh 310 pounds myself. Today I am weighing 190 pounds and still losing. I noticed a change in how people interacted with me as I lost weight. People were nicer to me. People were more willing to do things for me. Even in the halls of church people went out of their way to speak to me.
Now I cannot be certain if it was more self-confidence that made the difference for me or if people just are cruel enough to treat fat people badly. Personally I think it is a combination of the two. But here is a 320 pound fat man. But this man did not let his fears or his insecurities control who he was. He was fat, active, fit, and abounding with life. He proved all sterotypes wrong. He proved that prejudice of fat people is as wrong as racial prejudism or sexual descrimination. This man knows that you may not be able to change the world, but you can change how you view the world. This man knows that if you change the way you view the world then you can change the way you live in the world. What an inspiring lesson. This man is in charge of his own destiny.
© Copyright Ryan Robert Schopke, November 15, 2005
posted by Schopke at 11/15/2005 08:31:00 PM
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