Some may remember that I joined a gym in May. I am going about 3 or 4 times a week and while I am not yet wide and narrow in just the right places, I am feeling stronger, and more importantly, feeling better about myself. The routine at this gym is to work varying muscle groups – so one day you may do shoulders and biceps, another back and abs; typically you work a group of two muscle groups. But not the legs. Ah, the legs, a special case. So strenuous is the work that goes with legs that a) no other muscle exercises are scheduled with them, and b) you are not encouraged on that day to do cardio work – the leg work is cardio work!
Early on in my time there I was invited to do a leg exercise that consists of standing almost all the way from a seat, bending your legs and bouncing your derriere off the edge of the seat – multiple times. I could not do it. I was overcome with fear of falling, of losing my balance. And in that fear I felt defeated, and as a result, took a couple of days off from the gym before I went back. Happily the gal who runs it is always happy to find you an alternative exercise if you don’t feel like you can do one. I confessed my feelings when I returned.
This morning was a “leg” day and Dani had written me up for this very exercise - this now almost 5 months later. I saw it on my sheet when I left the other day and commented to her – “Ah, we’re going to try that again!” I was willing to try. And I did it. And I felt so good for having done so. I felt courageous, and that prompted me to recall the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Wikipedia notes that the Lion’s fear made him feel inadequate - roger, dodger. And it goes on to say “He [did] not understand that courage means acting in the face of fear…” Today I discovered courage, and am feeling like a King of the Beasts (or The Chair!) for having done so.
The other discovery relates to treasure – our treasure – and comes from an email article I received today. The following is attributed to Mircea Eliade, from Myths Dreams and Mysteries:
Several hundred years ago an obscure Jewish rabbi, Isaac, son of Jekel, lived in great poverty in Cracow. One night he had a vivid dream about a treasure buried beneath the bridge leading to the royal castle at Prague. Three nights running he dreamed the same dream, and decided to make the long journey to Prague on foot. At length, footsore and weary, he found the bridge. Imagine his disappointment when he discovered that it was closed to the public and that guards were on duty night and day.
As he hung about wondering what to do next, the captain of the guard noticed him and asked him if he had lost something, whereupon the rabbi told him about the dream. The officer laughed: 'You don't want to take any notice of dreams,' he cried. 'Why, only the other night I had a dream about a treasure--buried behind the stove in the house of some rabbi in Cracow by the name of Isaac. But no one in their right mind pays any attention to dreams.'
The rabbi listened with inward astonishment. He bowed low and thanked the officer for his interest and made off as quickly as he could back to Cracow. He dug in the neglected corner of his house and found the treasure, which put an end to his poverty.
Early on in my time there I was invited to do a leg exercise that consists of standing almost all the way from a seat, bending your legs and bouncing your derriere off the edge of the seat – multiple times. I could not do it. I was overcome with fear of falling, of losing my balance. And in that fear I felt defeated, and as a result, took a couple of days off from the gym before I went back. Happily the gal who runs it is always happy to find you an alternative exercise if you don’t feel like you can do one. I confessed my feelings when I returned.
This morning was a “leg” day and Dani had written me up for this very exercise - this now almost 5 months later. I saw it on my sheet when I left the other day and commented to her – “Ah, we’re going to try that again!” I was willing to try. And I did it. And I felt so good for having done so. I felt courageous, and that prompted me to recall the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Wikipedia notes that the Lion’s fear made him feel inadequate - roger, dodger. And it goes on to say “He [did] not understand that courage means acting in the face of fear…” Today I discovered courage, and am feeling like a King of the Beasts (or The Chair!) for having done so.
The other discovery relates to treasure – our treasure – and comes from an email article I received today. The following is attributed to Mircea Eliade, from Myths Dreams and Mysteries:
Several hundred years ago an obscure Jewish rabbi, Isaac, son of Jekel, lived in great poverty in Cracow. One night he had a vivid dream about a treasure buried beneath the bridge leading to the royal castle at Prague. Three nights running he dreamed the same dream, and decided to make the long journey to Prague on foot. At length, footsore and weary, he found the bridge. Imagine his disappointment when he discovered that it was closed to the public and that guards were on duty night and day.
As he hung about wondering what to do next, the captain of the guard noticed him and asked him if he had lost something, whereupon the rabbi told him about the dream. The officer laughed: 'You don't want to take any notice of dreams,' he cried. 'Why, only the other night I had a dream about a treasure--buried behind the stove in the house of some rabbi in Cracow by the name of Isaac. But no one in their right mind pays any attention to dreams.'
The rabbi listened with inward astonishment. He bowed low and thanked the officer for his interest and made off as quickly as he could back to Cracow. He dug in the neglected corner of his house and found the treasure, which put an end to his poverty.
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