The haters thread and the one about feeling small is what got me to thinking about this.

You hear guys here and other places online talk about how much better shape they're in than everyone else, they're the top 5%, there are so many fat people, etc. etc. etc. But how much does it really matter? How much does it positively affect your life as well as the rest of the world? I have to say I believe your gains and your physique are possibly one of the most meaningless things in the world.

Look at the most powerful people on earth. I'm not talking about some idiot celebrity but people that hold real power. None of them are what anyone here would consider in great shape, they're either fat or skinny by physique world minded standards. However, each and everyone of them holds more power, wealth, influence and I'd even say importance in terms of the state of the world than you. You may be bigger and stronger, leaner and harder, but in comparison to them, even though they are 30% body fat, you are meaningless.

And this is where arguing starts. There are all sorts of justifications, but at the end of the day, 99.99% of the time, the gym rat's life is less successful and meaningful than the non-rat's. Sure, you can make the argument about meaningful to one's self, I live the gym lifestyle for me or any of that what I like to call "new age gym life bullshit" that you want, but that doesn't change reality.

And no, this thread isn't bashing you or anyone else. I enjoy going to the gym as much as anyone here. And the point of this thread isn't to attempt to persuade you or anyone else from living the way you do. More than anything, I guess you could say these are just rambling thoughts I've had for awhile. At one time in my life the gym life was so important to me, so much of my life revolved around it, actually everything in my life revolved around it in one way or another. But the more I look at life and the world the more I come to realize how meaningless all that stuff is. I'm not talking about in comparison to the important things like family and being happy in life, I'm simply saying your physique, my physique or anyone's physique is really not a determining factor for success, true success. If it were, the truly powerful would all be 5% and ripped to the bone when in fact not a single one of them are.