Do You Need Help?
Yesterday at the gym I decided to lift heavy. I “piled” on the plates onto the bar. I was setting up to do bench press. I scrolled through my playlist to find the song that was going to get me through the set. I closed my eyes and mentally prepared myself. I looked in the mirror and psyched myself out. I stretched my chest and did some shoulder rotations to prepare my body. I lay back, took a deep breath, grabbed the bar, lifted it up, struggled to keep the bar even on the way down while I was shaking. It was probably a split second before a guy came over and lifted the bar for me.
I was embarrassed. I felt pathetic. I couldn’t believe I needed help. I thanked the man. I apologized to him for having to help me. He said to me, “It’s no problem – I always need help”. I realized at that moment how strong he looked for saying that.
We think we can do it all on our own. We think that is being strong. Who knows if I would have been able to push the bar back up. It was clear to the guy next to me that I needed help even though I didn’t ask for it. I might have hurt myself if that guy wasn’t there. Then how strong would I be? Apparently I needed help even though I didn’t think so.
Do you need help?