WHAT INSPIRES YOU??
Last night after my spinning class I was chatting with a couple regulars and I posed the question 'what inspires you to come to spinning class, abs class, etc?' You see in Egypt there isn't much encouraging people, especially women to be fit or to exercise. The diet of the people here by nature is not good. Body image is different to the point where it is attractive to be overweight, especially if you are women and especially if you are of a 'fertile' age. I have a couple women who regularly come to spinning class and have been doing so for about 6 months now. One is probably early 20's the other two late 40's to early 50's and I'm very impressed that they keep coming and now are to the point they put our a great effort and are really leading the class as far as participants. So when I posed the question to them their response was simple...'It feels great' It was nice to hear such a simple answer, not answers like 'to look better', 'to lose weight'. They said, they just decided to do something together, this is what they decided and since they have been coming they have started feeling better, have more energy to do things during the day and are more motivated to do everyday things in their lives.
So what motivates you? I got in to this sport for a challenge. I have been successful in many sports in my life and this was something I knew was going to challenge me more than anything ever has in the past. To be honest I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it and certainly not sure I was going to like it and that was part of the attraction. From that point I moved to where I liked the looks I got when people found out what I was doing...'you're running how far?' 'you biked where?' 'how long did that take?' But that has changed also. What inspires me know?:
1) I like who I see when I look in the mirror in the morning. I like the fact that by the time I look in the mirror I have probably run 10k or biked 50k or if it is a weekend possibly 100k. I like that fact that it never really gets easier but I can continue to drag my ass out of bed and get out there and do it with a smile on my face. I like the fact that I can transfer that in to my everyday life. It seems easy to take on new problems and new challenges knowing that I have probably one of my toughest challenges waiting for me every morning at 5:00 am and I voluntarily get out of bed and meet that challenge head on everymorning. I'm not sure I liked the lethargy that seemed to be creeping in to my life 3 years ago before this journey began.
2) My family. Everyday when I look at my daughter I want to have say in how she looks at me. I want her to see someone who is motivated and dedicated enough to take on tough challenges and see them through. I want her to be proud of the fact that her dad can put in full days work, have quality time for family, and be committed to making himself a better person on top of that. I don't want my wife to have to live with the lazy, overweight, couch potato I was on the verge of becoming. I want to atleast be 1/2 as determined as my wife is when she sets her mind to doing something. If she decides she is going to do something she does it, no matter how prepared or unprepared she is it will get done and she will look great doing it. 3 months after having her first baby a 1/2 marathon comes up...she does it and does it well despite not really being a runner. 10k comes up last month and she hadn't been running much...that's o.k., she does it and finishes M.O.P. She is my greatest inspiration.
3) The people I get to meet, are inspired by, and be inspired by me. Like the three Egyptian ladies that come to my spinning class. Three ladies I have nothing in common with and otherwise would have nothing to speak about with. I get to see these ladies on a weekly basis and have a short meaningful conversation. Not much idle chit-chat. Sure they ask about my family and I ask about theirs, but then it's all meat and potatoes. Even if only for a minute, we chat about heart rate training, strenght exercises to help this or that, detox cleanses, whatever. They are interested in what events I have coming up and I'm interested in how their training and development is going. Individually they have said that for one reason or another I inspire them, but little do they know how much they inspire me. There are the few students of mine that get what I'm doing and are interested in what I'm doing, and have some aspirations of doing something similar. Of course there are always the people in my cycling club, the people that I meet at events, our little triathlon cirlcle we have going here. It is great to be a part of a group that has a common, HEALTHY interest in something.
Sooo...what ispires you?
Last night after my spinning class I was chatting with a couple regulars and I posed the question 'what inspires you to come to spinning class, abs class, etc?' You see in Egypt there isn't much encouraging people, especially women to be fit or to exercise. The diet of the people here by nature is not good. Body image is different to the point where it is attractive to be overweight, especially if you are women and especially if you are of a 'fertile' age. I have a couple women who regularly come to spinning class and have been doing so for about 6 months now. One is probably early 20's the other two late 40's to early 50's and I'm very impressed that they keep coming and now are to the point they put our a great effort and are really leading the class as far as participants. So when I posed the question to them their response was simple...'It feels great' It was nice to hear such a simple answer, not answers like 'to look better', 'to lose weight'. They said, they just decided to do something together, this is what they decided and since they have been coming they have started feeling better, have more energy to do things during the day and are more motivated to do everyday things in their lives.
So what motivates you? I got in to this sport for a challenge. I have been successful in many sports in my life and this was something I knew was going to challenge me more than anything ever has in the past. To be honest I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it and certainly not sure I was going to like it and that was part of the attraction. From that point I moved to where I liked the looks I got when people found out what I was doing...'you're running how far?' 'you biked where?' 'how long did that take?' But that has changed also. What inspires me know?:
1) I like who I see when I look in the mirror in the morning. I like the fact that by the time I look in the mirror I have probably run 10k or biked 50k or if it is a weekend possibly 100k. I like that fact that it never really gets easier but I can continue to drag my ass out of bed and get out there and do it with a smile on my face. I like the fact that I can transfer that in to my everyday life. It seems easy to take on new problems and new challenges knowing that I have probably one of my toughest challenges waiting for me every morning at 5:00 am and I voluntarily get out of bed and meet that challenge head on everymorning. I'm not sure I liked the lethargy that seemed to be creeping in to my life 3 years ago before this journey began.
2) My family. Everyday when I look at my daughter I want to have say in how she looks at me. I want her to see someone who is motivated and dedicated enough to take on tough challenges and see them through. I want her to be proud of the fact that her dad can put in full days work, have quality time for family, and be committed to making himself a better person on top of that. I don't want my wife to have to live with the lazy, overweight, couch potato I was on the verge of becoming. I want to atleast be 1/2 as determined as my wife is when she sets her mind to doing something. If she decides she is going to do something she does it, no matter how prepared or unprepared she is it will get done and she will look great doing it. 3 months after having her first baby a 1/2 marathon comes up...she does it and does it well despite not really being a runner. 10k comes up last month and she hadn't been running much...that's o.k., she does it and finishes M.O.P. She is my greatest inspiration.
3) The people I get to meet, are inspired by, and be inspired by me. Like the three Egyptian ladies that come to my spinning class. Three ladies I have nothing in common with and otherwise would have nothing to speak about with. I get to see these ladies on a weekly basis and have a short meaningful conversation. Not much idle chit-chat. Sure they ask about my family and I ask about theirs, but then it's all meat and potatoes. Even if only for a minute, we chat about heart rate training, strenght exercises to help this or that, detox cleanses, whatever. They are interested in what events I have coming up and I'm interested in how their training and development is going. Individually they have said that for one reason or another I inspire them, but little do they know how much they inspire me. There are the few students of mine that get what I'm doing and are interested in what I'm doing, and have some aspirations of doing something similar. Of course there are always the people in my cycling club, the people that I meet at events, our little triathlon cirlcle we have going here. It is great to be a part of a group that has a common, HEALTHY interest in something.
Sooo...what ispires you?
posted by Brawn of the Oasis at 8:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home