Sigmund Freud, categorized three major categories that affect the development of personality . Last week I focused on Nature- one of those categories.. This week the focus is on the body, another of his categories. I am the subject.
Not only was I born fearful, timid, insecure,powerless, dependent and timid, but I also had a childhood asthma diagnosis. One earlier memory relates to my parents taking me to a treatment center in Biloxi, Mississippi. There, I recall having my body pricked all over to determine its reactions. That was unpleasant and scary to put it mildly. Another time I remember being at home in the fall with burning leaves on Evanston Ave. in Detroit and my mother keeping me inside because of the poor air quality .And, I do have early memories related to wheezing .
Alfred Adler's theory of personality deviates from Freud in that according to Adler, we are motivated primarily by social urges . And ,this social interest is inborn and relates to specific types of relationships with people in social situations which develop and are determined by the nature of the society in which one is reared. My address and zip code was 14949 Evanston Detroit ,Michigan 48224 which has served me well Simply ,Adler’s major concepts related to the idea that within the social urge ,there is a striving for superiority with future goal seeking behavior .Thus, man is conscious of his goal seeking to compensate for his physical and/or psychological handicaps or inferiorities in that he thinks,intends, ambitions, plans trains, rests,and eats healthy with other supporting figures .
Furthermore, man is motivated by expectations of the future and his striving ideals are incorporated in that behavior. Man's style of life is based on early childhood experiences that are largely determined by specific impurities , fancied or real. Socially ,man makes his own personality , the constructs from heredity and experience. His real self gives meaning to his life by creating the goals, expectations and means to achieve that goal .And ,that the final goal of man was to be aggressive, powerful and superior.
.However, superiority strivings for primarily self preservation, personal interest to compensate for feelings of inferiority and inadequacy are neurotic. For Adler, superiority means a drive for completion in which the goals are social in character. In essence, a feeling of inferiority gives a sense of incompleteness and it becomes a great driving force for superiority, perfection, excellence and social interest.. According to the Adler, " Social interest is a true and inevitable compensation for all the natural weaknesses of human beings."
Another of Adler’s thinking is related to the idea that organ inferiority results in an overcompensation to compensate. This means,because of feeling inferior as a result of a developmental abnormality, the individual attempts to compensate for the weakness by practice , building strength with intensive repetitive training. In other words, if there's a feeling of inferiority related to the body, one has a tendency to compensate for that weakness and feelings of inferiority by consciously seeking appropriate and healthy actions and strategies. And, Adler also believed that life’s goal was perfection or completion , not pleasure .
With the above being said, my early interest and compensation was related to sports with the exception of swimming- the breathing was the excuse. As a young boy. I loved baseball, football and hockey and listening on the radio to Van Patrick. I also collected the players cards with statistics from gum purchases. At Wayne elementary, I read books by John R Tunis with his sport themes-heroes overcoming odds and becoming excellent. I also competed in gym class at Wayne elementary with my friend and rival Tom Smith. Tom became a member of Dan Devine’s Missouri Tigers and played in a number of Orange Bowls .
Being outside playing baseball and football were priorities. I frequently went to neighbors homes and recollected playing in the street or competing at that vacant nearby lot on Harper ave.. At Jackson Junior high our three on three basketball team of Tom Smith, Bob Adams and t dominated the gym class in both the seventh and eighth grades. I also remember having my younger brother Ron attempt to tackle me , in the backyard when I was carrying the football. He was younger and he had no chance.
During high school years, I attacked my dad's York barbells in our basement. I got stronger and had brother Ron and his friend Dave lift the heavy weight barbell so I could do bench presses. I also played high school and college football. I continued lifting weights with others and used extremely heavy weights requiring strong friends to be spotters when I did bench presses.
Childhood ,latency and adolescence were characterized by my compensation for that early asthma experience.I focused on being stronger, dominant and excellent Further, I witnessed dad dealing with his childhood diabetes diagnosis. Mom and I visited him many times while he was in the hospital receiving treatment. In fact, he was at the University of Michigan Medical Center and he became friendly with Terry Sawchuk, the Red Wings goalie. I'm either 15 or 16 and dad had me perform a strength feat , for Terry, by lifting a chair by its one leg with one hand, straight and parallel to the floor.
Living in the Bay Area in the 70s, I recall the running phase with the likes of Jim Fixx. I liked running around Lake Merritt in Oakland along with high schooler Stephen Hackel . Years later, in 1997, I entered an endurance ride and met Tony and Jeff who were competing in the Mustang Classic Ride &Tie. My running resumed and became serious as I wanted to compete in the sport which includes two humans and a horse. So far, my body has not failed me.
The next season,I recollect that when connecting my horse trailer to my truck and I hurt my lower back. Foolishly, I did setups afterwards and then had to crawl upstairs to my bed. The next day I called Ken ,one of my renters, a physical therapist, and he assisted so I was able to get out of bed and head for work.Ken provided treatment every day,prior to my going to my office. During that week ,I stood while conducting psychotherapy with my clients. Sitting was awful and painful .
During that week,I ran in the morning as I was preparing for the championship Ride & Tie at Donner Summit in 1998 . Steve was my partner and on Friday he came to my house, loaded my horse into the trailer and drove while I was the passenger. Every hour or so we had to stop on the side of the road as I had to get out and stretch my aching back. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to compete on Saturday. I didn't want to be found lying in the dirt on the trail. That morning I mounted my horse and told Steve let's do it. Running was good for me and I essentially kept myself erect while riding. We finished and then went to the award ceremony as I had to stand .Success!
For a number of years. I did not sustain any equine injuries and only minor injuries from running. I had a massage from the Monster of Massage-Veloyce, physical therapy from Jim and chiropractic treatment from ultra runner Matt. Veloyce suggested buying a hot tub and we talked about ibuprofen, Advil and other remedies. Another friend, Jerome, introduced me to a blender and Georgia gave me a birthday book which became one of my Bibles "Stopping The Clock.” In fact, I became one of four individuals to have completed three 100 mile one day events-Tevis, Western States and the Swanton Pacific Ride & Tie. Incidentally, I was the only one in my 60s to do so.
Then in 2009, riding with Linda , I broke some bones in my neck when I was thrown by my horse Gypsy. That essentially ended equine competition. The surgeon told me that I could become like Christopher Reeve if I had another horse accident. As a result, I focused on running and running. I was running 50 milers and 50 K's until age 79 , and then Covid arrived. In my 80th year I ran the Jed Smith 1/2 marathon and enjoyed it.- my last competitive run .
With Covid,Tony moving and Linda’s severe horse injury, competition ended . Currently, every other day Linda drives the golf cart with Teddy ,I run in front with music playing and the other days we are back at the gym. I am lifting free weights and doing the machines. By the way, I have already maxed out (most weight) on 3 of those machines.
Last week I had cataract surgery in one eye. The ophthalmologist told me I can't lift anything over 25 pounds, but I can still walk as many miles as I want but not to endure strain. This two week recovery time has been the longest I've had in approximately the last 30 years. Initially, I felt anxious and thought about how much it might set me back as a result. In other words, my exercise pursuit now has nothing to do with my original asthmatic condition nor competitive excellence. I enjoy exercising even though it doesn't serve to meet those earlier basic needs. And this current pursuit is called functional autonomy as a motivational aspect of my behavior.
I know there will be a day when things change. However,my orientation and devotion are caring, health , strength ,physicality and enriching the executive functions in my cortex. My lifestyle has been unique , creative ,congruent and remains in concert with who I am.
Reference
Adler. A . Individual Psychology.
