I was a trifle irritated as my usual treadmill at the gym was being used by someone! As a practice I am not usually very selfish but when I saw a very skinny middle aged woman using “My” equipment I felt all tied up in knots. I mean why such an underweight character should need to use weight loss equipment was beyond my comprehension. I felt frustrated by just looking at her! If you had looked at me through the magic mirror you wouldn’t have been surprised to see my skin color as green. Of course I pretended to myself that it was not jealousy but the fact that my routine was filled with obstacles of the ‘stick’ kind.
I took the treadmill next to it and grimaced to myself. She gave me a smile (which strangers in the gym do) but did I smile back? No I just twitched my lips for an excuse of a smile! The whole of half an hour I kept peeping at her. I had never felt more obese and bloated in my whole life. We could see each other in the huge mirror in front of us. Needless to say it was one of my worst walks……All the negative emotions like jealousy, envy, anger and irritations were taking turns to occupy my mind. It wasn’t fair, here I had a good reason to be on the treadmill and I didn’t get my favorite one and there was one person who didn’t need to but was wasting her time and mine by walking at a slow pace beside me!
Though in the following days she did not use my treadmill, I still did not like her. God was trying to emphasize my obesity by letting her loiter around me! She even went to the sauna which I hadn’t even tried. I wanted to ask her why she was torturing her poor body through all these activities. She looked like an unstrung bean. I learnt to control my negative emotions and continued my activities and ignored her. (Though I wished she would change her timings!)
When I went after the weekend to the gym, I could hear the rumble of the machines outside the door. I sighed and opened the door expecting to see Ms. Beans…. but to my surprise she wasn’t there instead Ms. Pumpkin was there! (Thankfully not on ‘My’ machine!). She was almost three times my size and her complexion was orange like a pumpkin. (Hence my christening her with that name!) What a day it was. “Look at me”, I said to myself, “I am so slim”
I felt positively upbeat and smiled at her but I got paid back with my own coin, she grimaced at me!
“Huh!” I said to myself, “I won’t waste my smiles on someone who doesn’t appreciated it”
I was now all positive, I walked at a faster pace not feeling in the least tired. I even hummed along as the calories-used piled up faster and faster. In short I was in seventh heaven! I did some extra workouts and still hung around trying the other machines.
One week of feeling good! I looked forward to my workouts every day. I saw my co walker trying weights and other machines in the gym and I had started toying with the idea of following suit… maybe next week, I said to myself.
The next week Ms. Beans was back! So was Ms. Pumpkin! They were both on the treadmill but not on mine! I felt as if the balloon of happiness had been pricked. Later I wondered why. I was in equilibrium now with both of them beside me I did not touch either the zenith or the nadir! I was where I should be in between!
Both it seemed were best friends; chattering away with each other nineteen to a dozen; smiling at each other and talking excitedly; they were having a gala time. They smiled at me, an open hearted one and I reluctantly smiled back. True happiness is infectious. I felt at peace, although I wasn’t actually flying I was walking with light steps and God in his own way put me in my place. I learnt a lesson that deep depression and ecstasy were temporary emotions. Truth alone triumphs and is permanent.
