Surround yourself with around fitness minded people. Positivity can be so contagious!
-- Unknown
My gym has become my new masked family. I joined a gym during the Covid era as soon as the gyms started to open back up. I had, like so many other people, gained a few unwelcome pounds and decided it was time to set them loose. Of course, we were all wearing masks as I joined my first class. It’s an amazing gym that has taken every possible precaution allowing only eight people in a class to ensure that we are always 6 feet apart and only 16 people in the gym at a time in its entirety. We spend very little time interacting with one another there since after each class we dutifully take our Clorox wipes and begin wiping down the straps of our station and the mats that we were standing and lying on. We don’t lollygag in the waiting area as it is quite small and we are conscious not to overcrowd ourselves in the small space. And yet, during the class, we joke with one another about being out of breath or not being able to do a particular movement or cheer each other on with a “good job“ when someone has achieved something that they were unable to do in the class before. I’ve learned that smiles look differently since they are obscured by masks and no longer include the beauty and the curvature of the mouth. Now I see that someone radiates their smiles with their squinted eyes, the beautiful laugh line wrinkles that appear beside their eyes, Who would’ve thought that we would have to pay attention to the eyes in such away? It gives a whole new meeting to the quote “ The eyes are the windows to the soul.“ i just heard someone call it SMIZE- smiling with the eyes. It made me laugh. I thoroughly enjoy my interactions with my masked family even though they may be short. The people at the gym remind me that I’m not going through any of this alone and that laughter and a sense of humor still exist. The people in my class are all on the same journey. We are all there striving for more, striving for better and willing to fully support each other along the way. We are thoroughly resilient. Covid may have taken many things from us but I’m going to make sure that I SMIZE more. Hahhaha. How about you?
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