Last evening I went with a few friends to a badminton club in the city that we wanted to try out to check for competition. The club was typical and I saw a lot of new faces and we proceeded to play for the next couple of hours.
During a break between games, I sat on a bench watching the games and noticed someone on a court across the gym. It was someone I recognized from my university days, but largely have lost contact with and was only an acquaintance at best even during those years. This in mind, I felt no compulsion to say hello as we never really shared anything in common. However, what I was overcome with was how badly he had let himself go. Balding now in a bad way and a large belly on him- I was taken aback at how long it has been since those days and how, if we aren’t careful, we can fall into a lower sense of self-worth- re-prioritizing our jobs or our hobbies ahead of basic care and attention to these bodies we’ve been blessed to inhabit for as long as we may have.
Then it dawned on me. Was he thinking the same thing as me??? Was he seeing me again after all this time, thinking- “Wow… what happened to him?” or “Did he ever slide!” I’ve been back to the gym now since the first of February, after a year long hiatus- so I know I’m coming around- but he could absolutely thought the same of me. It created in me a strong motivation to keep up taking care of myself- at least from a physical standpoint- and keep making the daily commitment to maintaining, if not improving, the genetics I’ve been tasked to work with.
I felt good at the gym this morning- having learned a lesson on being judgmental and putting in the extra five minutes on the treadmill.
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