The Man Who Humbled Me

I attend a kickboxing class twice a week in the early evening, but this past week I had to be somewhere during my normal workout time, so I went to the morning class instead. As I was wrapping my hands and putting my boxing gloves on, I saw for the first time the service elevator open and the front desk girl walk over to it. She opened the doors and there was a man, who looked to be in his 40’s, sitting in a wheel chair. He also seemed to have a condition such as cerebral palsy where he could not walk or hold up his head. However, he was able to move his arms and talk.

The front desk girl pushed his wheel chair over to one of the many punching bags hanging in the studio and left him there. As people walked by, he would say hi. He knew everyone’s names. I was thinking that he must be a regular here.

When it was time to warm-up, we did our usual run around the perimeter of the studio for several minutes. My least favorite part of any workout is the warm-up, but I always do it because I understand the necessity and the benefits both physically and mentally. So as I began my first few steps of the run, I let out my usual silent sigh in my head and carried on. As we continued to run, I started to hear the man in the wheelchair clap and cheer us on. I was thinking, “Wow, he’s the most excited of us all of us about this mundane warm-up.”

After the warm-up, we all went to our own punching bags and started our workout. Each time the instructor gave us a new combination of punches and kicks, we would begin and the man in the wheelchair would tap the bag with one fist, probably the hardest that he could punch. When he got tired, he would stop and then yell, “Come on guys! You can do this! Let’s go!!” He did this the entire hour. He really pumped me up!

At the end of the workout, as we walked by him, he gave each of us a high five. The front desk girl opened the service elevator and took him back downstairs. As I left the building, I saw him outside of the studio waiting for his ride.

The next time I returned to the studio at my regular evening time, I asked the instructor about the man. He said that he has been coming faithfully for years.

I thought that there was a beautiful lesson to be learned here. Here I was, hum drumming through my monotonous warm-up, and there is a man in a wheelchair who probably dreams of being able to stand on his two feet. Here I am, sometimes dread working out (yes, I dread it sometimes too!) and putting my socks and shoes on, and here is a man with the heart of champion, never missing a session to cheer on the ones who are able to do what he can only fantasize about.

As we approach the season of gratefulness, I encourage you to really be grateful for the smallest things we take for granted – the things that we complain and trivialize on, the aches and pains, the number on the scale we don’t like, the urge to be lazy and not workout because we don’t feel like it because it’s easier to be cozy and comfortable than to get sweaty and hot.

I will be practicing gratefulness a little extra this week because there was a man who inspired me, not by his words, but by his actions, by his perseverance, by his bright outlook on life despite his limitations.

What are you grateful for today?  Will you share it with us over on my Facebook page?  I’d love to hear from you!