- Kris Crawford
Ray Arde
Be Strong! Stay Strong! Arde Strong!
On Thursday May 21st, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Ray Arde was at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Detention Center with Knock Out Dog Fighting founder Kris Crawford and her pit bull Tahoe for the first of a series of presentations about choosing your own path and inner strength.
Kris and Tahoe began the presentation talking about the history of the pit bull - once known as "America's dog" - and how the public views the breed today. The young men spoke openly about their thoughts about pit bulls and dog fighting. As Tahoe walked amongst everyone, intent on greeting everyone there, Kris spoke about how she uses the strength and power of pit bull dogs to save lives.
Then it was Ray's turn to speak.
Ray spoke of his personal struggles while growing up and how the abuse he suffered as a boy taught him about resisting temptation, learning to cope and rising above the challenges he faced. Just as we work to build physical strength, we must also work to develop our inner strength.
"Life! Life is what we make of it. We are given many opportunities in life, but it’s what we do with the opportunities that determine the outcome. At times it feels like we are on top of the world while at other times it feels as though the world is crashing down on us. We all make mistakes in many of our personal decisions and choices in life. It's what we do during those dark times that determines our path in life."
Ray is a man who can attest to the many mistakes and adversities that we have to deal with and overcome while growing up; from the innocent preschool age through tumultuous high school adolescence. Some of us had more to deal with than others -- much more. Ray was physically and mentally abused almost every day of his young life by someone he loved and trusted. As a teenager, Ray let those extreme challenges affect his life, becoming suicidal and making several attempts to end his life. During one attempt he tried overdosing on over the counter medication which landed him in the hospital. Ray was told by his doctor that if his close friend hadn't rushed him to the hospital that he most certainly would have died. Ray didn't care. While in the hospital recovering, Ray carved, “Life Sucks!” into his left wrist.
Ray needed a miracle.
A year later, Ray made another attempt at killing himself which led him to black out. "I saw a silhouette of a man that resembled Jesus Christ standing in front of a light in the background," said Ray. "As silly as this may sound, and whether you want to believe it or not, I had a choice to make. I could have taken the easy way out…death, by walking into that light; however, I decided to exercise my inner strength and for the first time in my live I chose to live."
When Ray finally made the decision to live, he knew he needed to straighten out his live and he even pushed his passion for pigskin (football) aside as he focused on developing a mentally and physically healthy lifestyle.
"I'm sure, many of you want to be the next Kobe Bryant, Oscar de la Joya or Peyton Manning," Arde said to the young men at Juvenile Hall. Some of us don't have the natural talent and have to work extremely hard to achieve just minimal results. That is life! Yeah, sometimes life sucks. Believe me I know! But if you look deep inside yourself that's where you all will find the strength to overcome life's challenges and the ability to move forward on the darkest of days."
He told them that they have a choice to either take life's adversities and let them destroy you, or they can do what he did and keep pushing forward. "Break away from the people who are troublemakers and who hold you back from being who you can be, " said Arde. "Surround yourself with positive people and find a positive role model."
Ray's role model was Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ray's goals were to become a professional bodybuilder, become an Olympia competitor and to own his own successful gym. Oh yeah....and to have a Lamborghini. Today, Ray has achieved all of his goals...yes, even the car. Now he has other dreams and goals. He knows he will reach those goals someday and can overcome all of life's challenges, because his strength comes from deep within his heart, self discipline, self motivation and self determination.
Becoming strong — physically, emotionally, mentally — takes time. Much as we’d like, we can’t just decide to get strong, then zip through some exercises and voilà! Nor, when our lives steer us into darkness, can we quickly brush past the brambles till we see the sun again.
Many of the young men asked for Ray's advice on how they can change their lives and be like him. "Don't be afraid to ask for help. It takes strength and courage to ask for help. And you have to want it. You need to make a new choice now by committing to YOU to make the best choices possible when confronted with challenges. Do you want to continue on a negative path potentially ending up dead, or do you want to live a life full of happiness, joy and love? It’s time for you to make a choice! Its okay if you’re scared…so am I and the person next to you! Life is tough! To make life simpler, being true to who you are and giving it your all to make your desires, dreams and goals become reality. Be strong, stay strong, Arde strong!"
More information about Ray can be found HERE
"Those years of training hard and competing tested me continually as a human being, tested my moral strength, toughened my character. It's like a samurai sword: It goes through many tests before it's worthy of being gripped by a warrior. It's' heated, and pounded and beaten with a hammer, sharpened, put into fire, then water, taken out, put into ice again and pounded some more. It's that whole process--the exposure to the harsh elements and brute force--that strengthens the metal, transforms it into a true samurai sword, powerful and valuable. The same kind of process strengthens a man's character, gives him confidence and self-esteem, so he can proudly confront himself and say "I faced the battle, I persevered and won. I passed the test." Those years taught me how to consistently stick to my commitments, to set a goal and tenaciously go after it no matter what it takes." -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ray's Press Release About Joining Knock Out Dog Fighting Can Be Viewed Here
Wednesday June 24th
Kris, Tahoe and Ray gave the second in a series of presentations about inner strength to young men at the Santa Clara County Juvenile Detention Center. One of the posters and radio PSAs Knock Out Dog Fighting made as part of a partnership with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office to help bring awareness to their Anti-Gang Resource Hotline was also presented.
Knock Out Dog Fighting's Anti-Gang PSA: Ray Arde - 60 seconds
Knock Out Dog Fighting's Anti-Gang PSA: Ray Arde - 30 seconds
