After parking the car in the side lot I walked around to the front of
the building and pulled the glass paneled wooden door open. It’s a big door but no so heavy. It’s easier to open that way.
There’s a nice board on the sidewall to the left of the front door just beyond the first row of elliptical machines and then past the stationary bicycles. The black board hangs there providing a neat little place to hang keys and sunglasses and what ever other small items you may need to rid yourself of during your workout.
Coats and hats and hoodies and such are nestled on the next board over. It’s much longer providing massive hooks to hang the heaviest of items. I passed that board up having no need to hang an outer garment since the weather has warmed so beautifully.
I hung my keys on a small hook and gently placed my sunglasses in such a way they wouldn’t fall if left on their own. With all my personal belongings safely stowed away I grabbed a little white towel from the basket that sits on top of a table just to the left of the front door.
That same table houses the sterilizing agent and a towel for members to wipe down the equipment when they’re finished relinquishing their sweat from their expired bodies. It also houses a stack of magazines and some sanitary wipes in case you don’t want to use the other chemicals. I always opt for the wipes.
So, with a towel in hand I headed to the elliptical machine in the second row from the windows behind the treadmills to the left of the door as one walks in. I use the elliptical machine to the left of the door as opposed to any of the ones on the right because I need a distraction when using the elliptical. From that particular machine I can view the over-head television without jeopardizing my neck. I have a very limited up and down range of motion in my neck and what I do have cannot be sustained for long periods of times. We’re talking seconds here.
So, I hopped on the elliptical to begin my first round of 15 minutes. I alternate between the elliptical and the strength training for an hour. Sometimes I pay attention to the music. Sometimes I watch what is happening just beyond the huge front paned windows. Sometimes I go to other places and who knows where I go or what I do there but where ever it is and what ever it is I do it enables me to get my workout done with tremendous pleasure.
The other evening when I was at that anti-aging presentation (See Maggie’s Day 58 of Discovering Love in a Wheel of Life) Jennifer Blair, the presenter, asked the packed room how many present liked exercising. I think three of us raised our hands. I giggled. I love working out. I love exercising. I always have. I think what’s important is to find the exercise that is right for your body. I don’t run. I’m not going to. But I will walk the heck out of a day or a treadmill.
I love to challenge my body and I remain in gratitude that the owner, Craig Swabek and his staff including Shawna Nicols and Mike Something-or-other have worked with me so diligently and encouraged me so profusely that in four short months I’m walking faster than a normal pace in my regular day and able to lift enough weight that I can now grocery shop with out the help of those around me to place items in my cart.
Of course when grocery shopping I only place items in the seat section of the grocery cart because I can’t lift them out of the basket. Not yet any way. I wonder if those guys have any idea how they have enriched my life by improving the quality of it. How nice it is to be reaching total independence again.
So, while I was sweating it out on the elliptical machine all of a sudden my disposition changed, my body warmed from the inside out, a smile appeared and filled the lower half of my sweating face. I was completely overcome with love, a love of some kind that warmed me all over.
It was like something had triggered a child hood memory like eating the first peach of the season on a summer day or your mom buying you that special dress for your first day of school. I was in a different space loving a different something or other.
Then, my ears tuned it. It was a voice I heard. A voice I recognized. I listened. And as I did my already broad smile broadened and my heart warmed just a tad bit more and all of a sudden I was taken back to the Dominican Republic where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer. A time I loved and an experience that has formed me to be the person I was sweating it out at Highland Fitness today.
Mana was playing on the overhead speakers. I was moving to the sway of the palm leaves as they hung over the street. Watching little chocolate skinned boys running about laughing and spouting out words of Spanish on unpaved roads in sweltering heat while their sandals flopped with each of their steps. The sounds of the flopping sandles reverberated off the walls in the fitness center as they ran in their hurry to get nowhere.
Oh, Mana. I love Mana and love the places they take me and the feelings they invoke and the memories they bring to life when ever I am blessed enough to be enriched by their music.
Thank you Shawna for playing Mana today while you were working at Highland Fitness and I was working out. It was a true pleasure to spend the hour in the Dominican Republic gathering coconuts for cocktails and other things as well.
What a beautiful day it was. Thank you for being a part of it. I hope you’re not jet-lagged from the quick trip to the Dominican Republic. It’s a place I love to visit every chance I get. Relax and enjoy and when you get a chance grab a napkin from the flight attendant and write me a little note on how you discovered love on this magnificent 62nd day of Discovering Love in 365 Days. Sweet Dreams! Maggie ã
How did you discover love today?
We welcome your comments here or on line at discoveringlovein365days@hotmail.com
and/or by mail to;
Discovering Love in 365 Days, PO Box 4937, Louisville, KY 40204-4937.
Clare and Maggie look forward to communicating with you soon.
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