Bodybuilding – Discovering Yourself   "Sail on! Sail on!" exhorted Christopher Columbus when his fear­ful crew beseeched him to turn back from the trackless ocean ahead, to give up his quest for that short route to the Far East. So goes the legend of the man who discovered America half a mil­lennium ago. He was 10,000 miles from his intended goal, but his landfall after two months of sailing established the existence of a great new world. Bodybuilding is also a journey of discovery. You wake up early to go workout, stuff your face with quality calories, spend hundreds of dollars on protein, creatine, and pre-workout supplements like BSN No-Xplode. You then ask yourself, "What does it all mean?"

Build muscles like bodybuilders

In the throes of hard work, the answer defies logic. We tell you how much better you will look and feel, but that's not the final outcome. Only in retrospect can you see the logic of your ways. What you are really gain­ing is something far more important. Bodybuilding is a voyage of discovery. The physical goals are mere chimera compared to the ultimate realization of your creative efforts.

Bodybuilding is a spiritual experience that puts you in control of your life. As so many of its converts say: "It makes you more comfortable with yourself."

The individual workout, although requiring effort, is a form of play. Like all sports, it's a game that celebrates the body and sets the soul free. It is a time when your spirit is free to wander, un-tethered by dogma, inhibitions and re­strictions. You may go into the gym full of tension or confusing thoughts and discover upon leaving that your inner computer has organized all the former disassociated data into a clear spread­sheet and infused you with a sense of buoyancy.

Statesmen, scholars and scientists often speak of having their most crea­tive times when they are walking. Of necessity, they must gather all the facts at their desks, but only when their minds are at play during physical ac­tivity do inspiration and flashes of in­sight occur to resolve problems and shape concepts.

We are bred to be purposeful, but, ironically, creativity often occurs best when we are least purposeful. Writing this article is the mechanical process of assembling the thoughts that oc­curred to me following a weight-training workout. Though the workout itself was tough and tiring physio­logically, I felt a mental and spiritual release afterward. My mind was free to do its own thing, to pursue an idea with abandon. The workout had cleared the air, put the pressures of business in limbo.

We need recuperation and play. The water, the trees, the rocks, the search for food, those elements of nature that put us in touch with our basic being, account for the popularity of the sport of fishing. Many of our presidents were fishing buffs. Undoubtedly, many of the problems of the Oval Office found solutions during playful fishing excursions. Our minds, like computers, get "hung up." Physical play allows us to "reset" our minds and tap the un­conscious for the elusive material that completes relationships and establishes a whole. When problems are con­sciously insurmountable, take a walk, a run, a swim or a weight workout. They can put your thoughts in proper perspective and provide the answers you want.

You may not find the results of your first bodybuilding efforts very impressive. Nevertheless, you keep going. Then one day down the road some dis­tance, you look into the mirror and see a trim, healthier body with new, shape­ly muscle, and suddenly there's a flash of meaning in your life. You've creat­ed a new body. But even more, you've acquired a new sensibility and a sense of pride that puts your life in perspective. You've made a discovery. Eureka! You've found the meaning of life. - Bodybuilding – Discovering Yourself article was contributed by Peter Hyc