“When you are a person, that always has a goal, that always has a vision, the less time I have to think ‘How do I feel today?’ ‘Am I depressed today?’ ‘Do I feel sorry for myself?’ ‘Have I become a victim?’ ‘Oh my God, I feel so bad about myself.’ I don’t have time for this crap. A lot of times, it’s people, who don’t work enough. If you are busy all the time, you don’t have time to think of this stuff. Let’s move forward.” — Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Netflix documentary, Arnold: Athlete, Actor, American
Don’t tell Arnold Schwarzenegger that he can’t do something, even at 76-years-young.
Growing up in California, Almost DailyBrett sported a “Pumping Iron” Arnold Schwarzenegger calendar on his bedroom wall.
Growing up in Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger affixed images of champion body builders on his bedroom wall, including Reg Park in his role as “Hercules.”
People wondered. They needed not be concerned whatsoever. Almost DailyBrett was a powerlifter, looking for some workout tips. And who could offer better advice in developing size, shape, form and seem-a-tree than Arnold?
Arnold was the Muhammad Ali, the Tiger Woods, the Lewis Hamilton of body building. He was one of those very few defining athletes for their given sports, which were never the same after their respective departures.
Schwarzenegger redefined an ordinary-sounding name into an Austrian accented, AH-Nold. In the course of an amazing career, he became the greatest body builder of all time (seven-time Mr. Olympia). He became not just a movie actor, but a star. To top off a charmed life, he was elected governor of the largest state in the union, California, even though his native tongue is Österreiches Deutsch.
There are some who have impressive first-and-second careers (e.g., Ronald Reagan, an actor and POTUS). Arnold even took the Gipper a step further with three careers: Athlete, Actor, American.
The reality of Arnold puts the fantasy of Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump to shame. The three-part Netflix documentary on Athlete-Actor-American tells a story of an improbable man from Thal, Austria,
The Man In The Arena
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena …” – President Teddy Roosevelt, The Man in the Arena, April 23, 1910
“Be useful. Keep moving.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
When former President Ronald Reagan passed away, there were those who cruelly conjured images of the embarrassing Iran-Contra affair. It was not the Gipper’s best moment, and yet he was one of America’s best presidents, one who transformed America in his eight years as president.
Arnold’s own embarrassing affair in 1996 resulted in the loss of his beloved spouse Maria Shriver, and inflicted untold pain on his family. The Netflix documentary does not gloss over Arnold’s failings and his weaknesses.
He’s human. And yet no one in Almost DailyBrett’s lifetime has been more driven, more focused, more accomplished. Arnold is an inspiration to us all. Be useful. Keep moving.
Arnold is the consummate embodiment of Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena. His stature today seems larger than anytime during the course of his lifetime. How is that possible?
Was Arnold’s career perfect? Is anyone’s path of life, perfect? No one’s career has been more fantabulous than the Austrian kid with the funny accent that we know simply as, Arnold.
(Almost) DailyBrett 