“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17
One of God’s greatest blessings are friends and relationships with people you can trust. Multiple time within the past week, I have been reminded of this truth. Whether it’s coworkers, family, friends, my wife, I can count myself as extremely blessed by the people who surround me. Men and women who hold me accountable to the man God calls me to be, men and women who push me to be more than I’m content with being, and men and women who can see more of my faults and my weaknesses than I care to admit. Looking at the Bible and how God has set up this world, it’s easy to see that community and deep, meaningful relationship are a necessary and joy filled part of life.
The same is true of workout partners. It was pointed out to me this week that much of my success can be attributed to the coaches and lifting partners along the way. Since high school, God has placed men and women around me to continue to prevent me from settling for less than I’m capable of. I am always baffled by people who train in their garage by themselves. That is incredible mental strength that I honestly don’t possess. I thrive off community and many of our nation’s best lifters and best competitors do the same. Daily competitive environments and consistently losing to training partners breeds success. It’s a good reminder that I have more work to do. I’m a firm believer that daily competitiveness pushes athletes past with they would have accomplished otherwise.
This post is to thank many of the men and women along the way have coached me, trained me, and supported me for so many years. I look back on my life and the people who have been a part of it and tonight I find myself grateful. Blessed more than I deserve.