'Become who you were born to be!' -Lord Elrond

I think Labor Day is an appropriate day to make a declaration, just because it is rich in the spirit of the common man, the laborer that goes to work before the sun rises and in some cases does not go home until after it has set. It has the spirit of revolution and strength and a renewal to commitment built into it. Seeing as I am at a point where a serious commitment, or a renewal of an old commitment, must be made, I have decided to write a declaration or manifesto of sorts to state my reasons, my opinions, and why I think others should follow my lead.

Work is one of the number one problems I see with the American people today. We do too much of it, dedicate too much of our lives to it for too little of a reward from it. In other countries, people work to live, while here we live to work, striving for that essentially worthless green piece of paper that, as we have seen in recent years, inevitably becomes nothing more than the paper that it is, and no policy or speech can make it any more convincing either to the outside world or to those within our own nation.

Meanwhile, the jobs that have come to dominate the American job market are such that generally place people at a desk or in some other sedentary position where the mind is allowed to work but the body is placed on a lower tier of priority. As a result, people are getting fatter and fatter, searching for some miracle that will fix the problem instantly, without effort. All the while, they continue to eat whatever is most convenient, close at hand, or cheap, without much or any thought to the content or quality of what they are eating.

This has not been a problem for me for the most part. I work in a very active industry where I have to roll large cast iron pipes ranging from 300 to 3,000 pounds, for ten hours each day. I am very active, but I have not always eaten the proper foods or the proper amounts of them, thus I am in the position I am in.

As Americans, I believe we were meant for more than what we are right now. Our country is falling apart and our people are not much better. Things need to change, but we cannot count on politicians or business leaders to change things. It starts with the individual. So I invite you to read this declaration I have written, to do your best to understand it, and if you feel it is something you can commit to, put your name to it as I have. This is not just about losing weight, or looking or feeling better. This is about being better. This is about becoming more (or less :) ). This is about becoming the ideal you, in body, in spirit, and in mind. If you can commit yourself to this, do so, and then pass it on to anyone and everyone you think needs to have a new beginning.

The Labor Day Declaration

Be it known, on this the fifth day of September, in the Year of our Lord two thousand and eleven, from the Coast Pacific to the Coast Atlantic, and to all the citizens of the world who may read this declaration; as we the American People, and most especially the American Working Man rest from the labors of daily life that have come to consume our lives to such an extent that the health, wisdom and education of this nation is waning; as the summer months come to a close and the cold dark of winter begins to set in; I here declare the day is not dead, and the unconquerable spirit of man, too long retired in the habit of careless hibernation must now rise, and must with doubtless courage stand to take his right place again.

Today, the irons of old habits must burst and be buried deep in the caverns of memory where they may serve only as a reminder and a token of the past; of its reality, of its tyranny, and of its cruelty.

Today, a new vision must be born as a fire from the ashes and a light out of the darkness, to scorch the blackened and decayed mind back into vigorous life.

Today, the arm will be made strong; the foot firmly planted, the heart heard as the thunder in the heavens, and the spirit will again shine with the splendor of all the stars in the cosmos.

Today, a new world begins, a new dream is born, and the first courageous step forward shall be made.

Man must acknowledge the three realms of person: the physical, the spiritual, and the educational, and must exercise and build them all in the purpose of growth and realization. They each must be built independently in the pursuance of their interdependent use; man must realize they cannot be wholly independent and the growth of one is intrinsically dependent on the growth of another. 

A man without education cannot build his physical stature and without spirit could not long endure the pains of physical growth. 

The spirit is weak when the physical body is apathetic and unwilling to serve its turn, or insufficient or overly confident education dispels the reality of spirit from a man’s mind. 

Education is essentially useless when the spirit loses a sense of wonder and curiosity for the world, or when there are no possibilities for physical application.

I here declare that the physical will again be given its proper place in the line of priority, with the spiritual to aid its course and the educational to bring them both to fruition.

I here declare for myself that I will walk with a purpose; that I will run with a strong hope; I will bear the weights of iron in the interest of becoming stronger than the inferior element and to subvert it from a bruising chain of restriction to a sure footing for progression.

I here declare that the many good and wonderful fruits and grains of the earth shall be the basis of my sustenance, as the most worthy materials on which to build the spirit, the mind, and the body.

I here declare that the senses will no longer play overlord, that they will never be overindulged, whether taste or smell or other that may turn from worthy to detrimental.

I here declare that the flesh of fish and fowl shall from this day be the only worthy meats to provide fuel for the fire of my soul, and the machine of my body; and that the flesh of the larger beasts shall only be used in times of holiday or dire necessity.

I here declare that from the rising of the sun all my available faculties shall be employed to exercise and train the three realms of person; that I shall exert all force within myself to release the latent heat within, to break the spirit from its frozen dormancy, to issue forth and flow to light and life.

I here declare that I will overcome my limitations, both those bestowed and ordained by nature and those built by that enemy called doubt. I will allow neither real pollutant nor imagined word to hinder my progress forward.

I here declare that I will become the person that I was at birth ordained by God to be.

Let the new course be established. Let the rudder be held fast. Let no storm or wave misdirect the path to turn the sailor from his destination. In all the rage of the elements, of earth, of time, of space and of hell, keep a steady eye and a head unbowed.

Let all the dreary, hopeless masses follow now. Let the willing and the dreamers dare to live again. Let the common and the beaten rise and try again.

The world and all its tangible matter and philosophical orders cannot be trusted for support. Governments will fall under the ego of the governors. Funds will fail by the greed of the bankers. Companies will break and work will be lost. Love will be shattered, misshapen, and replaced with instinctive lust.

Only in the person, in the single and individual can any man ever trust. Only in a well-forged body, a keen and sensible mind, and a sure spirit that has found itself right in the eyes of God can any man ever find success. Let it be so now.

Let all who will follow give sign, in like manner as I, that is, that I here seal my commitment to this edict in that I here affix my name, and with it my honor and reputation.

Javier Rodriguez - Author

Sincerely,
Fat Guy, Little Coat