A gym story

Sleevarilla · February 2014

Sometimes it's not easy to share things that happen in life because doing so means also sharing parts of myself that are uncomfortable to share. But, there are times when someone does something in your life that is more important than the discomfort of sharing things you'd prefer to keep to yourself. Yesterday, that happened to me.

A brief set-up ... I am in my 40's and I am on my journey of trying to lose a lot of weight. A *LOT* of weight. Over the last decade or so, I've worked very hard to push everyone out of my life and built my walls and then have fought hard to protect those walls and keep everyone out. This isn't just a weight loss journey I'm on. I go to the gym and I'm not embarrassed or self-conscious about that because I mostly don't care what anyone thinks about me being there. My walls are portable and go where I go and I feel fairly safe behind them. But, neither do I talk to anyone while there. I put in my headphones and do what I can do and then go home.

So, last night I was there doing what I can do. There weren't that many folks there on a Friday night and my little corner of the gym was mostly deserted. I was ellipticall'ing away. A cute, obviously in shape, young lady comes up to me and seems to want to talk to me. I'm not sure what I expected her to say because when a socially awkward person is forced into interaction, the knee-jerk reaction is akin to panic. Doesn't she see my walls? I'm quite proud of the fact that I didn't fall off the machine.

I can't directly quote her, because of the shock that someone was talking to me and the surprise over the things she said, so I'll paraphrase. She said that she'd seen me there a lot lately and she wanted to tell me that I was working very hard and to not give up on myself. She said keep going, just one pound at a time, keep moving. She understood because her mother also struggled and she just wanted me to not give up. She said she wanted to see me there everyday.

She might have said more, but I was busy trying to breathe because breathing is hard when I'm doing what I can on the elliptical and remembering that I had onions for lunch and hadn't brushed my teeth, and trying to think of something to say back to her because I'm not used to people coming up to me to talk and I'm sure that I came across as awkwardly as I felt. I did manage to thank her for taking the time to come up to me and say what she said. After I was done, I went and found her and actually introduced myself and thanked her again.

My point is this: when you see someone like me at the gym, find the courage to go up and say a few words of encouragement. You will probably underestimate how much your words will mean to that person and how much it will resonate and affect them.