Confidence

 I was at the gym working on my abdomens with Brandon. We are in a small section that was apart from the rest of the gym. Across from us was a young girl (young as in, high school young) who was about 300 lbs and a boy who was physically fit. The boy looked a little young to be a Personal trainer at Gold's Gym.  The boy was on the declined ab machine, showing the girl how to do sit ups. She stood there and watched him while shaking her head, "I can't do that!" The boy steps off the machine and encourages her to get on. She looks at the machine, doesn't even attempt to get on. She's giggling to cover up her lack of confidence. I kept hearing her say, "I can't do this. There are people watching!" Her guy friend assured her, "No one is looking at you. Come on, you can do this!"

Well, of course, there was one person watching....me. Well...I was semi-watching, so that it wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable. I was more so, listening to her put herself down. A wave of sadness crept over me, as I continued to watch her look at the machines in defeat and embarrassment. The 300 pound, lack-of-confidence girl was me when I first started out at the gym two years ago. I wanted to walk up to her and encourage her. But I didn't get the chance to find her before I left the gym. Here is what I wish I would have said,

"Listen, you may not be able to do this as well as your friend now....but you have to try. If you never step onto the machine and give it a try...how will you know if you can or cannot do something? And if you feel that people are watching you...let them! It doesn't matter that you can't do it right enough reps on the first time. What matters is that you're here! You could be at home, watching TV. But you made the extra step to come here to make a change. You should be proud of yourself! And what's even better, you have a great friend to support you. He's  doing a great job showing you the exercises and doing a wonderful job encouraging you along the way. I've been in your shoes before. Having no confidence in how I look or what I did. The first step I did was conquering my doubts by attempting to get on the machine. You'll be amazed at how much you can do by taking the first step of believing in yourself. Don't give up!"