My love-hate relationship with the gym officially started when I was in high school. Having a very health-conscious mother has had various effects on me, such as the guilty feelings that attack me when I reach out for that last piece of chocolate cake, as well as my habit of exercising on a regular basis.
I’d have to admit that, at first, I hated the gym. This might sound a bit odd, but I was not used to being physically active while surrounded by strangers, I did not like stowing my stuff away into the smelly gym lockers, and I also did not enjoy the 20-minutes drive to the gym after school everyday. Another thing is that, the gym I went to, for some reason, had no one my age in it. So nowadays when I look back, I don’t blame myself for hating the gym.
As time passed, though, this gym-going habit eventually stuck with me. When I went to college, I also kept on visiting the gym, which, conveniently, was right outside of my dorm building for three years. In the excitement and chaos of college life, nothing was really constant for me. Things just kept on changing all the time. Interests, courses, sleep schedules, and people I hung out with changed. Even my whole outlook on life changed, and not just once or twice. Amidst the mess and the changes, only one thing remained constant, and that’s the gym sitting outside my window. When I was fatigued from studying, I would go to the gym to refill my energy. When confused about a decision in my personal life, I would go to the gym for some alone time so I can sit on it. When I was depressed or stressed, I would also go to the gym and work out like crazy so that I can forget about everything else, for a little while at least. It really helps.
To this day, my affair with the gym continues. Since I live near the Columbia campus, I’ve been going to the school gym. Though the temperature has been dropping in the past couple weeks, and it’s getting harder and harder to just pull myself out of the bed in the morning, I can still be spotted running in the treadmill during my lunch break!