Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Change of Attitude

For over a year I have been basically working out and I have to say that for over a year I have been complaining about it. I pretty much dread Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings cuz I know I have to go to the gym. But today I have changed my attitude from an experience I had there. When I arrived I went directly to the bikes. I passed a man on the treadmill walking on it very slowly with his oxygen tank. He was very overweight but I thought......I'm glad he's here.......and then went to the bike and thought about how much I'm going to dread this. Half way through the workout he moved over to the bikes and was next to me. He struggled to get his feet on the peddles and then went for about a minute and got off. In these situations I'm not sure if I should ask someone if they would like some help or if I should stay back. I stayed back and just smiled. When I got done I headed out and he was sitting down at the table and I looked at him and he couldn't be more than 5 or 6 years older than me. And he says to me, "You sure look a lot better than I do." All I could do is smile cuz I felt bad and didn't know what to say. I'm not sure how he got to this point or what his situation is but I felt very grateful that I could work out even though I feel tired and like crap afterwards. I would rather have this pain than to be in his situation.
So if anyone hears me complain about workout.....just give me a swift kick in the butt!!!

1 comment:

Heidi said...

It's hard to be in that situation, then later you think, "I should have said..." It's wonderful that he's there and trying. Making progress however small is still progress. How like our souls our bodies are! Even a little spiritual progress helps. How much better to exercise our spirituality every day, sometimes several times a day, as a natural part of our lives, than to put it off until we are spiritually "out of shape" let alone on the oxygen tank. I hope you look forward to seeing him again and giving him encouragement... and if you don't ever see him again, I hope you look forward to working out anyway!