7th Grade. I'm the one in the purple shirt, 2nd row, 2nd from the left. Ouch. I guess taking my glasses off didn't really help...
I was one of those annoying kids who always got straight A’s. Add to this the facts that I was shy, had extremely short hair, wore glasses, and had braces, and it is apparent why I wasn’t the most popular girl in middle school.
Oh yeah… one more thing… I was very…um…well… let’s just say I wasn’t very athletic. Not surprisingly, my least favorite class was gym. And the worst part of the year was when we had to take the horrifying President’s physical fitness test (or whatever it was called). I’m not even sure it still exists, but this was a standardized fitness test that all kids had to take back in the 70′s and 80′s.
I hated the entire test, but there was one part that was particularly horrible.
Why the hell does she look so happy?
The pull ups.
OMG.
I could never understand how ANYONE could even possibly imagine pulling themselves up. I would just hang there. Absolutely no movement. None.
It was mortifying.
Plus, my grade was on the line. Since I couldn’t even *begin* to pull myself up, I was in danger of failing the test, and hence gym, because I “wasn’t trying hard enough.” I resigned myself to a big fat “F” in gym.
As I hung from that bar like an idiot, I could feel the tears starting to form. “Great,” I thought, “not only am I a complete wimp, but now I’m going to cry.” I could hear the giggles from the girls waiting for me to finish hanging there like a dead weight.
I felt someone come up behind me. As an unpopular kid, having someone quietly walk up behind you is not good news. Failing gym class, humiliating myself, and now the idea that someone was going to add insult to injury. I started to cry for real.
Then, something completely unexpected happened.
Two very strong hands grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up until my chin was above the bar. All I did was hold on to the bar. The hands allowed me to easily do what I could never do by myself. These hands lifted me up four more times – you were required to do at least five pull-ups – then they placed me on the ground.
I think I was in shock, because it took me a couple of seconds to turn around and see who was attached to those hands.
Then I was even more shocked. It was the “cool coach.” You know… the kind who is in really good shape, good looking, huge muscles… very different from the other coaches who probably couldn’t even do a pull-up themselves.
He looked kind of like this... but with a shirt on...
I can never remember this guy saying anything to me… or anyone for that matter. He never said anything to me that day. I don’t even remember his name.
I’m sure he forgot about that moment immediately after it happened. But after almost 30 years, I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Thanks to those strong hands – and the apparently very kind-hearted person attached to them – I not only passed gym class, but I felt like I was worth something. The cool coach took the time to help ME.
The moral of this story:
Know that the small things you do could impact other people in ways you might never, ever imagine. Even if you think you are having no impact on your clients, customers, friends, coworkers, kids, spouse, or even a stranger… don’t be so sure. You never know what small act of kindness could affect them for the rest of their lives.
Filed under: Coaching, Decision Making Tagged: | Act of Kindness, Fitness, Gym, Middle School, Pull-ups, Random Act of Kindness
I just read your story about PE and I am so glad you shared it. They do still have the Presidential tests, and I have one daughter that actually looks forward to it! Thankfully my children have more confidence in their pinky fingers than I ever had at their age or as a teenager. I can remember dreading all PE classes for fear that someone may see me fall or do something goofy and how on earth would I live with that?? I am glad to say that I grew out of that way of feeling and now can be found doing all kinds of goofy things quite often in front of who ever happens to be around. I am so glad the coach helped you that day, and glad also that you shared the experience. Take care, Marianna
Thanks, Marianna. Isn’t it great to look back and realize how differently you feel now? I’m so glad your daughter is having a great experience. Probably has something to do with her mother.
Thanks again, and take care. – Caryn
Love the picture!! My father used to send us our old class pictures at Xmas as reminders to keep us humble.
In our school it was the dreaded “rope climb”. But I do think it’s cool how so many women, including myself, who used to dread gym class as kids, found our “inner athletes” as adults. It’s incredibly empowering to find something, whether it’s yoga or hiking or whatever, that you enjoy and that makes you feel strong, and to challenge those assumptions (I’m unathletic) that you told yourself or were told as a kid. It makes you think – what other old scripts do we have that we can challenge?
Hi Rebecca. Exactly! This post was originally supposed to be about challenging assumptions, but it took a different turn as I was writing it. Sometimes I believe it would be nice if we could press a “reset” button and eliminate all the negative self talk and assumptions from childhood. Maybe that will be part of my next post…
[...] How I passed gym class [...]
Ciao Caryn,
I just read your gym story and felt very moved by your description of a time when you felt down and were, literally, lifted into a better way of feeling. Thanks for sharing insight about our ability to attract what we need when we need it–and the possibility that WE just might be offering exactly what another person in a difficult situation might need.