DRIVE FEAR INTO THE GROUND
Fear and anxiety are inevitable. How you process those feelings makes all the difference. Even I struggle with my own anxieties and fears. Fear is your body and mind trying to protect you from something that can be extremely harmful. However, sometimes the fear or anxiety is geared towards something that could be really good for you. It has a way of shutting yourself down to where your fears control what you know can be healthy and create a better out come of life for you but causes you to steer clear from those things.
I know, in my case, I definitely have some big fears and anxieties. Some of which are very logical and fair based off of experience but other fears are not that way. For instance, the gym. I was terrified when I first walked into a gym. I would get anxiety walking in without knowing anyone and afraid of looking weak or too “not in shape”. I had seen people walking in who were in better shape that I wished I could be in! I mean come on…. how can I, little old A_Jacs, walk in to a place busting with super fit people when I didn’t have a clue how to do most of anything?! That was my anxiety and fear speaking for me.
I used to get knots in my stomach driving to the gym because of the fear that built my anxiety up through the roof into the sky. I hate it because fitness has been one of my passions for some time now. But none the less, I still had that same feeling for almost a year. Let me just say, I might have been “in shape”, however, I didn’t feel that way about myself. Everyone fears something without meaning to. But if it’s not fear, the anxiety can still arise.
Walking into a gym can be stressful. “What will people think of me?”, “Will they judge me for not being in the best of shape?”, or my favorite, “Oh, I’m not going there because there are only little barbies and ken dolls there.”
Alright let me start by saying, your fears could very well be others fears in the gym. Majority people at the gym are worrying about what you think of them or judging them! Well, and if its not that then they are solely focused on their workout! They could care less what you wear, how “in shape” you are and what workouts you are doing! (I’m speaking for me, but Im also speaking for many gym folk I know who are kind and mind their own business.) The answer to the second question one might think, NO ONE CARES! We alllllll started somewhere! No one walks into the gym for the first time chiseled out of their mind unless they had worked out at home or something rather. Either way thats great for them but I know I sure as heck didn’t! Finally…. Here we go… If I ever get called a barbie to my face, I would probably look at them and ask if they were insane. Yes, it may be a complement but to hear “perfect” or “barbie” its like throwing a brick at my face! Not everyone wants to hear that they are perfect. I hear that and my first initial thought is no, no, no, you got that all wrong honey because I’m not. NO ONE is perfect!!!! If you can say that you are, well, God sure as heck did a wonderful thing for you. But in reality we all have flaws or things we wish we could change. It’s human nature. Even though I could go on a whole other rant about this, I’ll spare you all that word blurb for another day.
However, I will say this, insecurities drive fear, which in turn, drives anxiety. Walking into a gym can be terrifying, I felt that. But what if you have the chance to make yourself into who you would like to wake up in the morning one day to be? All I’m saying is this, if there is anxiety and fear in your heart for something that could potentially change your life, wouldn’t it be better to stand up and conquer those feelings and be proud to know you could? If I hadn’t, I never would have come to find Mei Fitness, a home, and another family. I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this post or feel as confident in who I am if I hadn’t told my fears to screw off.
I’ll end with this, if your dealing with those types of fears and anxieties walking into a gym, check out Mei Fitness. I pinky promise you, no one in there will look at you like you don’t belong or make you feel unwelcome. All my time there, I have seen so many people who I now respect and have great appreciation for from watching and talking to them. I have never felt better in a fitness center and I would never want anyone to walk in feeling less than what they truly are.
Take that leap and conquer those fears. You never know what could happen for you if you opened the closed door to your fears. There is a whole world out there. Don’t let your anxiety rule over your life.
P.S. all of this is easier said than done. I would know, but as you keep up with what you are doing it becomes something much simpler than fear.
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