Monday, September 21, 2009

body



Saturday I was at the grocery store waiting to pick up my prescription, and there was this girl I was watching over at the bank teller machine. I had to watch, because she was just the type of girl who expects people to watch her. She had long, dark hair, a sleeveless black shirt, dark, fitted pants, like yoga pants, and running shoes. She was toned. That sleeveless shirt was obviously worn to show off the lean muscles of her arms. It was apparent that she was a gym rat, and her body had kindly obliged by making her very attractive. It was also apparent that she was very proud of that body. This was a girl who didn’t mind looking in the mirror, because she liked what she saw. She was happy with the way she looked.

As I thought about this, longing for that same firmness in my triceps and gluteus muscles, for that nice, flat tummy, I figured I could probably get that way if I worked as hard as she did. But I don’t. Obviously, she’s motivated and I am not. And why not? I can see the rewards to such devotion to the weight machines. I could feel better about myself, and maybe look in the mirror and be proud of what I see. But I’m not willing to do the work. And I don’t know why not.

4 comments:

  1. hehehehhe ;)

    You look fine Alex. don't worry about it ;D

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  2. Yeah, I think that too. I make a resolve to add weights to my running regime. I envision my floppy belly tightening up and definition in my arms. I can almost see it.
    Then I drive by the bakery and I must go in.

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  3. The amazing thing is that she's probably not nearly as happy with her body as you think she is. Those who obsess rarely are- they're aware of every "flaw," every person around them who has a better___ and everything they want more of or different. Often, it's that dissatisfaction that continues to drive them.

    When I see a person like that, vying for attention, needing to be noticed regularly- I feel bad for them. It's an empty, artificial way of soothing whatever is going on inside and making yourself feel good about yourself.

    Balance is such a beautiful thing- to be healthy and spend one's time doing a variety of things (unless you're training for something of course- that's another thing).

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  4. I think you just summed it up for most of us. We'd like to look that way, but not if it takes that much effort. I've settled for moderate effort with moderate results. Oh well.

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