I started working out this year. And by ‘working out’, I mean trying to increase my strength rather than opting to run endlessly (although I do run sometimes for cardio :D). I started rock climbing at the start of the year, and got addicted to the endorphins of exercise… and the competition of reaching higher grades. However, you need strength to progress within climbing. As such, I began going to the gym. Most prominently, I’ve been spamming traps, lats and biceps in order to be able to complete pull ups.
I have to say, my body has changed. I’ve gotten more toned, and gained a lot of confidence in my ability to do athletic things. I was a weakling in high school, but now I feel strong.
You could say that my ego has inflated, despite not really attesting to that incredibly buff image of an average ‘gym-goer’.
Nevertheless, I am enjoying this newfound arrogance. I’ve found happiness in appreciating the growing capacities of my muscles. And, to be honest, I used to find comfort in my weakness. I thought it was a simple fact of my existence, a component of my identity. I WAS SO WRONG! It is admirable to be strong in any way, not necessarily physically. To be a weak girl, in body and mind, leads to vulnerability. I absolutely refuse to revert to this state.
One day I was with a few friends at this one bar, and I ended up getting drunk. I think… maybe… my arrogance compounds when I am inebriated. As such, I was mentioning my “gains” quite often (yes, I know it’s a little much but I was having fun (which matters the most!)). A guy I know shares the route home, so we take the bus home together. During this bus ride, for confusing reasons, he asks me why I feel the need to advertise this strength. I think it went along the lines of …
“What’s with needing to be strong all the time?”
He said something like this.
You know, despite me being pretty lighthearted and joke-y about my own strength, I feel like I deserve it in some capacity. Safe to say, I’ve been through a lot of hardship, so surely it’s within my right to be a little obnoxious about getting better? Well anyways, at that moment I thought about asking him something like:
“What do you know about strength?”
But I’ve learnt to be non-confrontational, and I laughed his comment off. I do wonder what he was going to say about it though. Why did he feel the need to ask?
Guys, all animals must engage in movement. Don’t neglect this Wolf Fact. The wolves you are, you must find the will to move around every day. Do it for yourself, not for your body or health, but because you are a Wolf that needs the experience of motion. The rest will follow.
End.
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