Gil likes to yell at me when I’m working out, but it’s nothing like my father’s yelling.
Gil yells love.
If I’m trying to set a new personal best, if I’m preparing to lift more than I've ever lifted, he stands in the background and yells, Come on, Andre! Let’s go! Big Thunder!
His yelling makes my heart club against my ribs. Then, for an added dash of inspiration, he’ll sometimes tell me to step aside, and he’ll lift his personal best – 550 pounds. It’s an awesome sight to see a man put that much iron about his chest, and it always makes me think that anything is possible.
How beautiful to dream.
But dreams, I tell Gil, in one of our quiet moments, are so damned tiring.
He laughs.
I can’t promise you that you won’t be tired, he says. But please know this. There’s a lot of good waiting for you on the other side of tired. Get yourself tired, Andre. That’s where you’re going to know yourself. On the other side of tired.
-Andre Agassi with J.R. Moehringer
Andre Agassi's book OPEN
photo: WorldVibe: lastor
