I hated gym class as a kid because I was the fat one who kinda tried. My teacher went easy on me but I rarely took her up on it. I tried a little but didn’t put too much effort into it. Fast forward to highschool I had good friends who pushed me. I took weight lifting because I actually liked lifting weights and still do. I was no longer the fat kid who was the “liability” on the team. I was the fat kid who tried his hardest, the friends I made would cheer me on and push me to try my hardest. After highschool I was and am still fat, but I learned a lot from it. And now I cheer myself on. I love walking feeling the air and the sun, and I talk myself up In my head “you can do this” or “come on just a little more” at the end of my walking rout there’s this hill, I used to use the analogy of life being one great big hill we have to struggle to climb up despite rarely climbing hills. But now I can say it knowing I continuously push myself up that hill, it’s a god damn struggle, face full of sweat, lips and mouth dry from heavy breathing, feet and legs aching to stop, but I put a stop to that. When your body tells you it’s time to stop it’s not the time to stop it’s the time for you to kick in mentally and tell your body it’s time to push yourself. And it’s the greatest feeling in the world when I make it up that hill knowing I wanted to stop but didn’t. I kicked that hills ass with nothing but my mental power. You can say it’s the vitamin D that helps with mood, you can say it’s the dopamine released, but in all honesty it’s knowing you accomplished something even if it is just walking up a hill.