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squats
Sunday. 11.17.13 10:58 pm
We're on the beach, and the sun is setting in front of us as we walk. Devon and I are dressed in our finest yuppie attire--being leggings, gym shoes, and fleece jackets for warmth. I have those earmuffs that wrap around the back of my head on, and she's sporting a black sports headband. Wintertime always produces the nicest sunsets, I think; the silhouette of the lighthouse is encased in deep oranges and reds, and the water just slightly reflects those colors, too. It feels quiet, even in the chaos of rushing waves pushing at the shore as the tide comes in. She stops frequently to take photos of the sunset, but none of the photos do it justice.

This is our first workout. See, we're both trying to get in shape--she wants to tone up before next summer, and I want to be able to escape hordes of zombies without having an asthma attack due to the weak-ass state of my lungs.

Priorities.

On our way back, we start to cash in on our agreement to perform one hundred squats before reaching the car.

A hundred. Four sets of twenty-five, and this is our first exercise. By the end of the second set, she suggests that we only do seventy-five, but I'm a good workout buddy and won't let go of our goals.

"I think we can do a hundred. Let's try for it, and if we don't get there, that's okay."


My friend Steve called, tonight. He left my university, last year, but we still talk about every month, and it's always something special. Tonight, the theme was Growth. See, he's realized that his life is structured, and that it's always been structured and goal-oriented...and that this isn't necessarily a good thing. He left our university in order to pursue a better degree program for his chosen field, which may or may not have been worth it (no one can decide that without knowing the other side of the coin), and has been working like crazy to give himself the best chances at doing what he wants with his life. For this, I deeply admire him.

He wants to take a break because he knows he needs it (sometimes you have to step away from a situation in order to refresh your perspective), but he also doesn't want to waste that break doing nothing to better his life.

I didn't know it, when he told me all of this, but our conversation would lead us to a place where I knew exactly what his task should be. Sure, he'll have to get more than just one task done, during that time off. He'll be exploring, and experiencing, and learning things, both in the external world and in the internal. I think this is the best possible thing for him to do, at this point in his life, before he becomes too old and too stuck in his ways. There is, however, one thing that I want him to do, when he's out there in the world.

"I want you to use this time to become more vulnerable," I told him. Before we said goodbye for the time being, he told me that he was frustrated by my advice, and that his frustration just means that I'm very right. The road won't be an easy one by any means, and he knows that...but he also knows that becoming more vulnerable could change his entire life in such a positive way.


The last twenty-five squats are the ones that really have my legs shaking...but, when my muscles really start to feel unstable, that's when they start growing. It's why they tell you not to use machines, at the gym, actually--without any sort of instability (i.e. having to hold the weight in place, rather than the weight being held in place is you lift it up and down in a straight line), the muscle doesn't have as much of a challenge, and it doesn't develop as much. Stable exercises are comfortable, and easy, but you won't grow as much from them.

That makes it all the greater of a reward, when you finally perform that last rep. The air smelled of sea water and victory, that night, as we drove home down the nearly-deserted roads of the coastal area, night all around us, thighs aching with realized accomplishment.

Youth is so full of possibility.
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