I really don't look at my past and I really don't look too much to the future because I find that's sort of redundant. I really live right in the present. I live right in the now.
Everyone thinks that because my dad was really well known for his body that I would have that pressure too, but the truth is that I don't look at those pictures of him being really muscley and say, "yep that's really what I want to look like!"
I tend not to look too much back; I tend to look forward. So, I suppose, I know, I've had probably most of my life, and there's less going forwards than there is going back, but I prefer to look in the future.
I think if I look back too much, I can't move forward.
Time moves only forward, never back. We look forward to a moment and then it arrives and an instant later it is gone. Like something on the surface of a river that we reached for but did not touch in time and it carried on, away. You cannot be a prisoner of your past against your will. Because you can only live in the past inside your mind.
I would definitely write to the kid that I was before, to embrace the moment. I think that often times when you're coming of age or growing up you look forward and you work really hard instead of sitting back and relaxing and enjoying the moment.
It took a lot of guts to change it and say 'I don't like the life that I'm living and I don't like the swimmer I am', so let's change it completely and say 'Look, I've got to learn to love myself'. And that's been a really hard thing to do because when you've done a performance that you're not proud of and the public and the media have criticized you.....people are really quick to make judgements so it was tough to say 'Well I don't care what you have to say. I'm going to do this for myself and if you don't like me after this, well then, it's too bad'.
We look backward too much and we look forward too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure - the eternal present, for it is always now.
I offer gentle understanding to myself. I position myself in love, not fear. I look behind me with forgiveness. I look forward with festive anticipation. I embrace this holy moment and assert, "Now. This moment is the moment to love, the moment to serve, the moment to seize the legacy instead of the small. Now. Now I will live large, love boldly, reach to the edges of my unfurled heart and fully enrolled hope."
If you wish to be good "Pantagruelists" (which is to say, live in peace, joy, health, and always dining well), never put too much faith in people who look out through a hole.
People don't really look forward to flying that much. It's like they want to get to the place, but they don't look forward to the experience.
I try and work out as much as I can because when you exercise, it releases endorphins and makes you feel really good. I also make sure I schedule time with my friends, family, and loved ones because I realize that, as well as your physical well-being, you have to look out for your mental well-being, too.
There's not much time to unwind, but you know what, it's because I love what I do. I look forward to the season. I look forward to playing games. It doesn't ever feel like work.
It's important to have a non-nostalgic view and say, let's look forward, because if we don't, all we'll hear are voices telling us to go back.
If your girlfriend is saying, 'Ugh, look at my stretch marks, look at my rolls,' don't say, 'Yeah, I hate my thighs, too.' Say, 'No, you look really cute today - and I feel good, too!'
Well, some people say I'm pessimistic because I recognize the eternal cycle of evil. All I say is, look at the history of mankind right up to this moment and what do you find?