Monday, February 18, 2013

Through someone else's eyes...

I've hit another slump-- where I'm stuck.  If the scale moves at all, it seems to go up.  I got sick during my last workout.  My knee started hollering again.  And I'm getting frustrated.   I know I'm still doing good things, and that my body is changing, but that doesn't keep me from lamenting my rate of progress.

Which is, I guess, one of the reasons I love the community at the gym. (And in that regard, the gym is definitely superior to running.) Since I usually workout about the same time every day, I usually see the same people.  In addition to the playing around we all do, they are quick to point out how they see me making progress. But one young guy who I haven't seen much lately caught me off guard the last two days.  The other day, he made a comment about me changing in all sorts of ways-- and I smiled, assuming he was talking about my shorter hair cut.  But yesterday, I crossed paths with him and he said, "You're really working hard and it shows.  You look great-- you are changing like crazy." I told him I was frustrated by being stuck lately and he said "That's because you can't see the whole picture. I can see it in your shoulders and face and legs."

That's helpful sometimes. Sometimes I've gotten so focused on the day in and day out that I lose sight of what I have accomplished. I tried on a previously unbuttonable suit just before Easter, and I looked like I was playing dress up.  And that's not nothing.   I keep the suit jacket hanging in the closet, and will pull it back out every now and then-- because the goal is still an awfully long way away.  Maybe when I hit bumps, looking back at where at the place from which I've come is the best motivation to propel me forward.

I'm grateful for the people who go out of their way to say something, because sometimes it's just the thing I need to hear.

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