Let’s pause for a moment of reflection.
What do you do to
unwind after a long day at work?
After a long day
of work, some people want to go home, rest, relax and rejuvenate themselves for
another day. But not me. I relax by completing a full body workout at the gym.
Now, my gym is on
the sixth floor of a multi-storey complex and there is nothing i enjoy more
than riding the elevator alone on my way up. I use the quiet time to do a quick
meditation and ready myself for the task ahead.
On this
particular day, I entered the elevator and was ready for my zen time.
“Wol di door fi
mi please!” Shouted a Goliath-looking man from across the floor. A part of me
wanted to shut the door quickly, but i had already made eye-contact with him.
Ugggghhhh.
“Thanks slimmaz!”
He was still shouting because he had on a pair of insanely huge earphones that
were so loud i could every beat of what he was listening... “wine up mi body mi
a wine up mi body.”
He was fully
robed in a pink shirt, pink shorts, pink Nike shoes adequately complemented by
pink bobby socks, pink gym bag and a pink water bottle. Either he had an
unusual obsession with the colour pink, or breast cancer awareness month had
moved from October to August.
As if his noisy
earphones and his Powerpuff-girls-dressing wasn’t enough, he started to sing.
“Wine up mi body mi a wine up mi body.” I was peeved. Zen
time was totally demolished.
When we got to
the third floor, he dashed out of the elevator and
through the gym door. Free food maybe? Couldn’t tell.
Anyway, I
changed into my gym wear and was ready to go. First up – squats
with the bar, which had 45lbs on either side – an overall weight of 90lbs.
“But watch yah!
Young lady mind yuh drop down inside here cause I don’t know how you plan to
lift dat.” The voice came from behind me so I had to break my concentration to
see who it was. Lo and behold, nuh Mr. Powerpuff girls!
“Don’t let my
size fool you,” I rebutted. “mi likkle but mi tallawah.”
He laughed. “Step
aside yaw let me learn you a lesson Ms. Tallawah, because clearly you think is
a dolly house business dis…
Out of sheer
curiosity, I stepped aside. He grunted,
puffed his chest and stooped to lift the 90lbs bar from the squat rack.
His face got
wrinkled. His eyes bulged. His knees started to shake like a leaf. Then he let
out a loud ripping one man salute that sent everybody scampering for cover. He did not even
do one squat!
He hung his head
in shame and walked away. “bwoy…. Dis back pain yah really a gimme a warm time
todeh,” he said, in an attempt to salvage his pride.
Then it was my
turn. I got into
position. Legs apart, knees parallel to elbows, back straight. I gripped the
bar and steadied myself. One squat, two squats, three…all the way through to
ten.
I returned the
weights to the rack and looked at pink panther with a smirk on my face and
reaffirmed “Mi likkle but mi tallawah.”
Ego now bruised,
he demanded that the weights be increased to 130lbs, more than my body weight!
I tried to caution him but he was adamant that he was going to prove a point.
He gripped the
weights and lifted. One squat! Two
squats! Pinky was defying the odds. But he started to sweat profusely. Then dropped
to the floor with the weights. Splat like
a ripe breadfruit, then curled up in the foetal position. The other men in the
gym laughed him to scorn.
Again, it was my
turn. Different weights, same treatment. I did all ten squats effortlessly, to
a round of applause from the onlookers. I looked over my shoulder to him once
again. “mi likkle…” and he interjected quickly “yeah yeah yeah… but yuh
tallawah.”
Ladies and
gentlemen, it is within each of us to reach deep inside and overcome whatever
is weighing us down. What do you see when you move up to that bar of weights or
the challenges in your life?
I implore you...
Next time you see a potentially difficult situation; don’t judge that book by
its cover. Take the time to read, to research and to re-imagine the
possibilities. Think of our small island of Jamaica compared to the giants of
the word as they go for gold in the Olympics. Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,
Elaine Thompson - we likkle.... But wi tallawah.
We are not afraid
to shine on the world stage and be the David to conquer the Goliaths out there.
We have constantly beaten our opponents into submission, to the point where our
latest Olympic talk is that “Di only person who have more silva dan Gatlin, a Judas.”
Since my
experience at the gym, Goliath aka Mr. Powerpuff Girls always wants to add
some extra weight to my exercise routine. If I have 10lbs, he would run to get
30 or 50, and say ‘yeah man, a your kinda ting dis.”
He now nods at me
with respect, and calls me Samson, Hercules, or Superwoman but I simply look at
him and say: