Henry J. Young

Authorial Intent Doesn't Matter

daily_028; arnold

There’s something about this guy, even at his advanced age, isn’t there?

Goes from a farm town to a factory town in Austria, then becomes a Hollywood icon, and governor of California? How does someone do that, and how are we all okay brushing off the fact that a man who had a Nazi father and was a professional bodybuilder, then actor, somehow fought his way into American politics in the ’00’s, and governed a US State for 8 years?

Isn’t that insane to you? It should be.

I’m talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, by the way. I don’t know if I made that clear.

Maybe it’s just me.

He was Mr. Universe at 20. What were you doing at 20? I wasn’t winning international bodybuilding competitions, that’s for sure.

He then became a US movie action star, something people all around the world dream of being and never come close to attaining.

Then, to top it all off, he wins a recall election in Calif., and gets reelected for a second term. Say what you will about circumstance in any case, but there’s no denying this guy’s a fighter.

Dave Ramsey has this thing he likes to say a lot; “gazelle intensity” is the fire in a prey animal’s belly not to be eaten. It basically references single-minded pursuit of something, at any cost (in a gazelle’s case it’s life, blood, survival, and what could be more precious artifacts to chase?).

Arnold has that intensity. You can see it in his face, even after years. He chases life, blood, survival, at any cost.

There’s something about this fire that excites us. We love to watch it, the raging blaze that comes with someone who chases with gazelle intensity. But we sit back, and try not to get burned. Why not catch on fire ourselves?

Thanks for reading.