I was at the gym yesterday (a minor accomplishment in itself), and I took a pure barre class. I think of it as “Ballet for Dummies and Non-Dancers.”
We didn’t have a barre on the wall; instead, we used folding chairs, balls, and elastic straps for balance and resistance. I hadn’t been there for awhile, and it showed.
The full-length mirrors made it possible for me to check my alignment (or lack thereof) during each exercise and, like three-way mirrors in department store dressing rooms, they dispelled any illusions I had about my physique. Further, the rubber bands we used proved that my arms are not as strong as I thought they were.
In short – I’ll just say there is work to be done. And I am loathe to do it.
But I made it through the class, vowed I would be back, and trekked off to the locker room to shower and get on with my day.
That’s when I heard her crying – a woman in the aisle of lockers adjacent to mine. She was on the phone, upset, and angry.
“I’m at the gym, God damn it!!” she said. “I’m trying!!”
I’m not sure what the conversation was really about. Whether it had to do with fitness or myriad other things. But I could tell her spirit was depleted. For whatever it was that was bothering her, she needed reassurance. She needed help in letting go of expectations – her own or someone else’s. She needed to know unconditional love.
This world would have us believe that we are measured by our output. That we have to perform every day. That these things determine our value. But that’s not the Truth.
We are loved beyond measure, simply because we ARE, by One who calls us “lilies among thorns.”
Today, as I tend to my sore spots, I will rest in that.
