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In Praise of Gym Trolls
Why we should love the folks who shame us where we are most vulnerable
This morning I read a piece by one of my favorite Medium writers, traceybyfire. In it she describes how a gym lowlife made an unsolicited and hugely unhelpful comment to her as she was going through a routine. I am quite familiar with the exercise, it does wonders for the glutes, as well as strengthens the back. I do it myself, in public, on our own dirty gym floor.
The comment hurt. They always do. Doesn’t matter that it’s none of their beeswax. Here we are with everything hanging out, all our perfect imperfections, doing our level best to negotiate with what God gave us and what we’ve done with it for good, bad or worse. The last thing we need is a nasty peanut gallery.
However.
We should thank these cretins. Really. No. We should.
Because people like this, along with the female fitness trainers who photograph, post and shame those of us who head to the gym to deal with what life has dealt us, remind us of why we’re there.
To NOT be like them. To rise. Stay with me here.