Election Day is tomorrow. It’s going to be chaos. This is the most
contentious and emotionally charged election in modern US history. No
one knows what’s going to happen, except that mental illness will
rise across the country, maybe for good reason.
There is something you
can do to protect yourself: do a PR on a big lift. That may sound
like a dodge, but think about it like this – you can do nothing
about the election as an individual, but as an individual you have
absolute control over your personal affairs, those things within your
purview as a free human being. When faced with the important
consequences of events beyond your control, it is good for you to
assert some measure of autonomy.
Strength is important
to you, and a PR is a measure of your strength. It means that the
things you focus a lot of your time on have been productive, in a way
that voting can never be. I’m not suggesting that you not vote
tomorrow, but rather that you retain some perspective: if your
candidate is not elected, it is not your personal fault –
likewise, if your candidate is elected, you can’t take credit.
History is being made here, and history is big.
But so is your PR. It
is the culmination of choices you make weekly, monthly, and yearly,
and it is within your control. If you honestly believe that Donald
Trump is going to institute an authoritarian dictatorship the day he
is elected, you don’t know very much about authoritarian
dictatorships. Likewise if you believe Donald Trump can lower the
national debt without the help of a whole bunch of people that don’t
want it lowered, you don’t know much about how we got $35 trillion in
debt.
Your PRs are similar to
the national debt, in that they accumulate over time as the result of
seemingly insignificant events. A 5-pound PR on a deadlift may seem
insignificant, but training is a process of accumulation, just
like “borrowing” money you never intend to pay back. The big big
difference is that you’re directly responsible for your PR and you’re
not responsible for the national debt, but you’re responsible
for the national debt anyway – isn’t that cute?
So tomorrow go to the
gym and do something you can be proud of: PR your
squat/deadlift/press/bench. Then go vote, having cleansed yourself of
the stench of passive involvement in a process that’s probably not
going to turn out your way. I think you’ll find a sense of moral
superiority in having done so.
