Episode 03: Ben Weldon
My guest today is Ben Weldon. He’s a great guy, formidable in his stature as well as his intellect. Our genesis story begins with grade school. We played sports together and of course had many classes. He is a marine biologist in south MS, now working on a PhD. His interests are broad, but they all seem to be originating in the spirit of continual self-improvement. He’s a power-lifter and novice swimmer. Ben also began a journey into the art of smoking food. Lately, he found interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. All this with a PhD program demanding his time.
It takes a special kind of person to continue to want to start something new. There is a humility one must have with any new pursuit. Success is dependent on the strength of your own tenacity and will to persevere.
There is something noble and worthwhile about choosing to endeavor—to try very hard at something or trying something difficult. There is a breaking of yourself that occurs in the process. You crack, you expand, and something emerges out of yourself to fill the void and expanse you manifested. It coalesces and hardens to now become the new you. Cracks are painful. They can bring you to your knees. They are the price we pay for the transaction of transcendence. Follow through is rewarded as growth. In this process you must continually remind yourself, “what you are to be, you are now becoming.”
It turns out we may be programmed for this as well. Our DNA, the genetic blueprint in our genes, is the fundamental source code for our being. It was widely accepted that our codes exist as a product of the evolutionary process. Gene traits that are environmentally selected through Darwinian natural selection theory--naturally evolving the code. It turns out there is another, more enigmatic gene programming process within us. De novo genes are genes that are not part of our genetic code. In fact, it’s believed de novo genes are unique encryption to the DNA of genes which produce proteins, designed to alter us. They exist in the neo-cortex of the brain as well as testicular tissue in males. It is believed these random developments of genes are not entirely random, but software updates to our genetic code due to changes in our environments. More specifically, it is believed these genes emerge as part of a change in our behavior and as a response to developmental stress of learning new skills and abilities.
In other words, as we try new things and advance our own abilities, our genetic code is being rewritten to give us those genes and subsequent proteins that make those new skills and abilities a part of us. So, as you endeavor through new aspects of your life and develop yourself, you are redefining who you are—literally. You’re also making it possible you will pass down your DNA to your children. Your descendants benefit from your own transcendence.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
~ Henry David Thoreau
Ben, and others like him, take evolution into their own hands. Sacrifices of today by people such as Ben change the course of their and their family’s future. That’s power beyond comprehension.
Back to the show…
Ben and I talk about his hobbies and other topics as well. I really felt as though I gained something from him. Amazing people will do that to you. I really enjoyed catching up with Ben Today. I hope you enjoy the show!
Please welcome, Ben Weldon.
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