I feel so sorry for people that it freaking eats me up inside.
I was watching this college kid cross the street in Philadelphia this morning and he was so unsure of himself, like he just wanted to disappear, and I thought that he looked so afraid of everything, that he had no confidence. He had no muscle to speak of, he was just a little out of place amongst all of the other people walking near him, most of them students.
He was alone, had poor posture, was pale and soft looking.
And of course I am projecting, I have no idea if any of my ideas are true, but I have known kids who just need to be shown the way to get out of a scared, tentative life.
I imagined what his life must be like, being a college kid and all. He's probably got a small circle of friends, he's pretty good in school, but he wants something better for himself, he wants to have confidence, to be sure of himself, to be able to defend himself, he wants to lift weights but he doesn't know where to start and he's too embarrassed to go to a gym.
Maybe his dad didn't set him up right for manhood, never took him fishing or hunting or bought him a BB gun when he was a kid or took him into the garage to squat or got him a pocket knife for his birthday. Maybe he just needs a little guidance , someone to tell him that he can do it, that he can set his mind on being stronger and eating right. Really, he needs to just take that first step, realize that he is no different than anyone else that if they can do it, he can do it. Take that massive step and never look back again.
He can do it, you can do it, everyone can do it. I'm telling you, I have seen it, and it is like magic when it takes hold.
And maybe taking some boxing lessons will open up a whole new world for him, that along with his studies which he is pretty good at, he will now have an all around being a man feeling that he never had before. Maybe the time spent in the gym will be just the boost that he needed to step out and get the gumption to ask the girl out that he always sees on his way to class but always thought that she was too good for him.
Maybe with the boxing lessons that he won't be afraid to walk down the street at night, that his life won't be stifled by his weakness.
And then maybe he will take off his shirt after a few weeks of getting his body right and he will see some muscles starting to appear and he will swell up with pride and confidence and this whole new beginning will be something that he will continue pushing and pushing until he is all the way the way that he wants to be. And with every workout he becomes better, he becomes right in the head about that the fact that he did it and that accomplishment is his best accomplishment to date in his young life, and he really can't think of anything better.
Because when you lift weights and eat right, you set yourself apart from the masses and that feels so good to do that, it is a unique feeling, a secret that you have just for yourself because YOU did it, you set goals and reached them.
And maybe he continues to look at the reflection in the mirror and he wonders why he didn't do all of this sooner, but its just because he didn't know, man, he didn't get it and he was scared to venture out and that scared kid looking back at him is there, it never goes all away. But keeping that old him in the back of his head is okay, that is a good thing because it makes him never , ever wanting to go back there again.
