You probably can’t tell from my picture, but I am not ripped. I discovered my natural ability for feebleness in 7th grade when I could not bench the bar during football workouts. My best game plan for this predicament was to be content with my meager physique. However, my acceptance for mediocrity was terminated last semester.
I was a part of an emergency response simulation where I had to help injured civilians to a clinic for help. The actors I worked with were covered in fake blood and each had different ailments that needed unique treatment. My job consisted of comforting some patients, but a majority of my work was consumed with carrying screaming victims on stretchers or wooden boards.
At the start of the semester, I decided to work out with a group of friends. This was a great challenge for me because the gym is not my comfort zone. It is filled with people who I have always feared. Most guys wore bro-tanks that were ripped from their axillary region to their lumbar quadrant, a necessity for self-esteem. Girls ran on the treadmills with the latest break up song bursting through their earphones and fire in their eyes as they doubled my speed and mileage. This place was a constant reminder of my toothpick arms from seventh grade that somehow had the strength to hold me back from an adequate self-image. Nonetheless, I was faithful to my routine.
After I completed the disaster simulation, I was exhausted. We had to carry disaster victims to multiple locations through difficult terrain and tiring obstacles. When I reflected on the situation, I came to appreciate my time in the gym. Although I still lack an enjoyment in the lifting of weights, I now understand the value in strengthening my body to a proper physique. If I had not worked out before the disaster simulation, then I would not have been as effective in carrying people. As I lifted stretchers of screaming actors, I did not think of the strong gym-goers who normally haunted my workout. I simply had an objective that I needed to accomplish with the tools that were available to me.
This experience allowed me to evaluate how I deal with my weaknesses. Before the simulation, I assumed that my flaws were my business and no one else had the right to be affected by them. I thought that keeping my insecurities to myself also meant keeping their consequences from hurting the ones I care for. However, this tragic simulation revealed this tragedy in me. Throughout our lives, we will influence a vast majority of people. They will encounter us in a plethora of environments and we must be ready to share Christ with them, even when we are at our weakest. If we are overprotective of our flaws we run the risk of valuing our security over the security of others. Even the most personal insecurities could be inadvertently passed down to our children or adapted by those who are close to us. Working on our weaknesses and making ourselves stronger is of the utmost importance when we consider meeting the needs of others. With even the smallest amount of power comes a call of responsibility.
If you are scared of working out, have an unhealthy body image, don’t give yourself a chance or let fear control your life in any other way, then strive to break free of its grip so that you may be available to help others, even in the worst of your weaknesses.
