The fighter

I've gone with a couple of friends to the gym because we are taking part in the Combat Challenge. I think the gym is a great place for observing people & behaviour. I get jealous when I see someone wearing a sports bra top with a flat tum (that is not inclusive of the instructor, by the way)...sigh! Can anyone really have such a flat tummy? Hmm....

Sometimes I can't help but wonder what's beneath the surface of the sweaty skin/head, in particular, women. There is a range of different women - those in nice sports bra & flat tum to the not so attractive flabby ones. Surely within such a range, there must be an even wider range of what goes on beneath. I always ask myself why women go to the gym. I, for one, fear getting too fat. I'm not a super regular freak who exercises 5 times a week & I don't really watch my diet that much - maybe that's why there isn't much change - still huge. Perhaps the gym is just a placebo for me.

I have often thought that many women go to the gym because they want a change in their lives. This is especially so for women who have gone through traumas like break-ups, divorces, etc. Who is the woman that lies beneath the mask of determination to finish up a 30min run on the treadmill? Or what fears hide behind every kick & jab-cross-hook?

Women are supposed to be complicated (as if men are not :p). But really, sometimes I think that women are a lot stronger than men are. Beneath the gentle build, the sweet smile, lies a strong force not to be trifled with. I'm not propagating feminism here but unmasking the fighter within.
I have come to know many women but nothing makes me respect a woman more than her tenacity & her will to survive & to live on another day & another & another. I just came across the writings of a single mother of 2 who bore her soul in the writings about how she was betrayed by her ex-husband, how she had to put up with the humiliation of that man insulting her for just about everything from the way she dressed to the way she held a pen while writing. The only reason why she's still alive today is because she has 2 precious children who mean the world and are world to her. Her only wish is to see her 2 precious ones grow up into people of fine character because that is the only way she can seek her justice against the injustice her ex-husband showed her. The storms of life have been and are still great for her but she has not drowned. In fact, she will not drown - she is a fighter. She is now stronger than before.

If I ever saw this woman in the gym, she will be the most beautiful fighter at body combat; she will be the fittest runner on the treadmill & those 30min on that machine mean nothing to her. She can run any marathon & say at the end, that she has lived it.