This is the time of year when people are returning to the gym. You know those guys. Maybe you’re one of those guys.
You have intended to be more faithful in the gym, more faithful to work out. But life has happened. Kids’ sports have happened. Work has happened. Vacation has happened. Sleep has happened. And it’s not that you’ve been intentionally avoiding the gym (OK, well, maybe you have, but just hang with me), it’s just that carving out time to drive across town, get an hour-long workout in, then drive back hasn’t happened.
Thank you very much, January-new-years-resolutions, for reminding us we need to get back at it.
You want to know the worst thing you can hear when you step a foot back in the gym? The one thing that, more than any other, may cause you to not come back? The one thing that seems benign by the one who speaks it?
Welcome back! It sure has been awhile …
Thus implying:
- You must be lazy.
- You are really packing on the pounds.
- You sure do need to be at the gym.
- I know your kind … we probably won’t see you for more than a few weeks.
- I see that pudge … hopefully you’ll stick around long enough to work it off.
- You haven’t been here in a while, so you probably have no idea what you’re doing at all.
That may not be explicitly stated, but it’s often what’s heard, because it’s so easy to bring our insecurities into the gym. When you look around, you see people who work out every day. You see equipment that’s intimidating.
And then you see yourself.
Out-of-shape.
Out-of-time.
Tired.
Weak.
A-little-too-round.
Don’t-really-want-to-be-there-anyway.
And those seemingly innocuous words fall like a ton of bricks on your fragile psyche.
Instead of asking them where they’ve been, or feigning shock that they’re back, just welcome them. Help them feel acclimated. And remember that being there is better than not being there.
Church returnees.
The same thing is true around this time of year in churches around the world.
People are gracing the doors of church buildings in an attempt to maintain spiritual goals they set that they knew they should’ve been working to keep all last year. Maybe that’s you.
